


Fate Unbound

by aleatoryEpiphany



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2018-12-14 11:05:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 80,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11781870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aleatoryEpiphany/pseuds/aleatoryEpiphany
Summary: Displeased with the fate that the Shikon pushed Higurashi Kagome into, the Kami decide to seek out the one person who can change her past, her future, and, coincidentally, the state of the world that is shattered around them. Who would have ever thought that would be the Inu no Taisho? Inu no Taisho/Kagome, Canon Divergence. Updates Sundays.





	1. Chapter 1

Toga, former Lord of the West, Inu no Taishō, most powerful daiyōkai in existence, was _completely infuriated_.

This would **absolutely** not do.

He looked down at his whelp and the young woman who deserved _so much better_ than what she was receiving from the boy. He was brash, abrasive, rude, and downright abusive at points. And here she was, settling down with him and having a life that, in all actuality, would be making her miserable in a few years. Kagome was destined for far more than to be a simple village miko and wife to a hanyō who still, even now, saw his previous beloved when he looked at her – despite the fact that as she had grown up, Kagome looked  nothing like the other wench.

And Toga knew _exactly_ why she was doing this to herself. Despite the  numerous suitors she had had during her years, his youngest son had made her feel worthless and unlovable by anyone but himself; not to mention that damn, blasted, _foolish_ promise of hers practically guaranteed that no matter _how_ unhappy the boy ended up making her, she wouldn't leave him.

No, this situation needed to be rectified in whatever manner possible.

He stared up from the scrying bowl – which had, for the past four days, been showing him a select few portions of the events that had befallen the amazing, resilient, and beautiful young woman who had had the misfortune to fall into a magical time-travelling well on the first day of her fifteenth year – and stared around the group of Kami that were all looking at him solemnly.

It had been quite a shock to wake up from being dead and in limbo, awaiting his next reincarnation (which would take longer, due to how long he had lived during his life on this earth) but now, Toga suspected that he was brought back to do a job – one which, if he was theorising correctly, he would thoroughly enjoy. Especially because upon his appearance into the midst of them, everybody in the room had been completely shocked, excepting Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama and Omoikane-sama.

Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama spoke into the quiet room, “Higurashi Kagome is not tied to your youngest by anything but a bond of friendly affection that borders on mothering affection, and a promise which was foolishly made and completely one sided – he _never_ promised to stay beside or with her in return for her promise to him. When he finds his true soul-mate she will be left behind – and her heart, broken. Higurashi Kagome will live to be thirty years of age, and then pass away in her sleep of a broken heart. Our original intentions had been to have her tied to Sesshōmaru – but that was not to be; he found another who could be a soul mate of his and despite his interest in the future miko, his devotion is, and will always be, first to the only person to ever love him unconditionally with no prior knowledge of him.”

“Tell me what to do. She is wonderful, strong, resilient, intelligent, caring – she deserves _far_ better than this life she has resigned herself to.”

Omoikane-sama stepped forth, light shining through His ageless eyes, and He gave Toga a wry smile, “Would you be willing to live as a ghost in the future until her trip through the well? To _stay_ incorporeal until they reach your bones? Would you be willing to teach her how to shoot and teach her kata, teach her yōkai culture and behaviours? How to perform a proper tea ceremony, how to play the flute and the shamisen, how to wear various types of court kimono? How to address royalty and servants, what is a proper gift in any situation, how to mother someone who desperately needs mothering, but will very likely initially rebuff any attempt of affection given?”

Toga stopped short at that, realising _exactly_ what They were asking of him. He nearly choked at Their suggestion – sure, he was inordinately fond of and attached to (practically in love with, if he was honest with himself) the girl from what he had seen of her these past four days, but part of that which he liked about her was her indomitable spirit… He despised shallow court-blooms, cold and proper and stripped away of any personality.

He was about to say as much, but Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama spoke up again, bell-like laughter filling Her words, “Oh, that will _never_ change about her, dear Toga – she will just learn the kind of refinement necessary for someone who has been, ultimately, and most strongly, tied to _you_ , Toga, Inu no Taishō. Your son rules the West now – but the South is labouring under a harsh and unworthy Lord. Maybe with a kind and open-minded Lord with a born-ningen Lady, wife, and mate, yōkai will openly last into the future, instead of having to hide in the shadows and blend in with ningen for fear of discovery and experimentation.”

This was… Well, it was a _lot_ to take in; mentally—logically—anyhow. Instinct was  screaming “YES” at him, demanding that he take her and make her happy, loved, **his**. His inner beast, his true self, quite obviously recognised her and had claimed her – he had _never_ reacted this way to Satori or Izayoi, that was for certain.

It wasn't as if he would be doing _anything_ improper to her, after all; if she fell in love with him as she grew older it would happen naturally, with no pushing. Well… maybe a _little_ pushing; Toga wasn't sure how inu affection would change the girl – in any case, until and unless she decided she wished to be _his_ alone, without external pressure and of her own volition, he would be giving her the affection from an adult to a child or teenager that was not family but was still pack. However, once she came of marriageable age – in  this era, ideally, because Kagome was obviously, if you considered her being raised yōkai instead of ningen, far more suited to this era than her own – he would up the ante a bit. He would **not** mate her before she was fifteen, physically, regardless of her mental age – Toga did have standards, after all, and was _not_ into children – but he _would_ treat her as his _chosen_ as early as thirteen, if she was mentally and emotionally mature enough. If she  wanted him.

Still, it was such an _immense_ decision to make. Regardless of Toga's own feelings on the subject, which had become clearer faster than he'd thought they would – he blamed that on the fact that he was so old—almost two millennia—that age didn't really matter to him in the large scheme of things – but this had the possibility to change the entire world as Kagome knew it.

And there was the crux of the problem – a paradox. Before he could ask about it, Ame-no-Uzume-sama spoke up, and the moment that The Great Persuader opened Her mouth, Toga knew he was _fucked_. There would be absolutely no going against his instincts in this matter. Especially when the words that She spoke immediately eased his fears. “The only thing that will happen is that the moment you enter her life, realities will begin to slowly, steadily split – once she enters the past, the well will become a dimension-travelling well, rather than a time-travelling well. Anyone with whom you and she, if it is willed, have contact in _that_ world will retain their memories of it even as it is changed; so promises made will be kept, despite the change in actual worlds. Those people you affect will simply disappear into the changed world, along with those important to them, and it will be mere copies who reside in the destroyed current future. Those copies will have no memories of either you or her in their lives outside of what happened in the past in _that_ world.

“And have no fears – as you are soul-bound to her, you will be able to come back with her; there will be no waiting in fear, knowing that the “future” is just as dangerous as the Sengoku Jidai is; just less obviously so – although, somehow, this Uzume believes that such a thing will not be a problem for Kagome with you somewhat-raising her.”

His worries eased, his beast howling in triumph, the Inu no Taishō did the only thing he _could_ do – smirk and shrug his shoulders, leaning against a pillar, “Well then, let's go change the past – and the  future.”


	2. Chapter 2

It turned out that the first thing that Toga had to do was _wait_ , which was simultaneously annoying _and_ entertaining. He had to view the  entirety of the travels of the Inutachi; and of Kagome. That decided him that his soul-mate would have home-schooling rather than public schooling – firstly, so that she could be taught a wider variety of subjects, secondly so that she wouldn't be forced into wearing such _indecent_ clothing, and thirdly because of a more flexible schedule. Her being a shrine maiden would make it much easier to arrange for such things, there was no _way_ that the future would not have concessions made for those who guarded their culture so deeply. Not in Nihon; maybe in other countries, but not _here_.

There would be no need for regular trips to take tests every couple of weeks, although Toga would still make absolutely sure that she visited her family once a fortnight or once a moon for a few days – not just so she could gather study materials but just so she could _relax_ in a time she would likely feel safer in. Although, with Toga's influence, that time/dimension would not feel like _home_ to Kagome. Not that he knew that – sometimes life just worked out that way.

Not that her original time actually _was_ any safer; he'd followed her there a few times while he _knew_ the Inutachi was staying in Edo doing nothing, and explored; there were all sorts of dangerous weapons that were difficult to defend against… _N_ _ormally_. Upon asking Amaterasu-sama (She told him not to call Her by Her full title, which was, admittedly, somewhat of a relief, what with it being a mouthful) about finding defence there, it was revealed to him that he didn't need to worry about his precious soul-mate experiencing any of that sort of thing.

This was because her aura generally drove humans who would harm her away when she was on her own, and would drive most yōkai with ill intent away as well, until the jewel was pulled from her; the centipede yōkai that did such was an anomaly – one of those “exception to the rules” existences. If he took care of her schooling, Kagome would rarely leave the shrine (excepting possibly to go to other shrines; depending on how such schooling worked), which, She reassured him, by the time Kagome was born had protections that prevented any yōkai who would harm any of the beings within from entering. Since the centipede yōkai was already _there_ it would not be affected, especially as it was sealed and asleep, meaning no harm to anyone until it was awoken and dragged Kagome into the well before the protections could eject it from the premises.

Still, he would make certain that she could defend herself _there_ , as well. Hand-to hand would do; Aikido and _kyokushin_ Karate (just because Toga was waiting and watching in  this time right now, did not mean that he had stayed here as soon as he was let free. The very first thing he did was seek out times of power related to the art of self defence, so that he would know what he wanted his precious Kagome to be taught), Karate that was meant for _attack and defence_ , rather than defence alone. It had originally been a _war art_ after all.

And Aikido for defence alone when she did not wish to truly harm her opponent – as well as to learn better how to channel her reiki and spiritual powers (those were _not_ reiryoku, reiryoku was  blue – he'd let her decide what she wanted to call them) throughout her body in a ningen way – she _would_ be learning how to do it as yōkai did, but it would be proof of her actually being a _real_ miko if she could do things the ningen way… Just so long as her default was yōkai.

When he asked Amaterasu-sama once again (because They had read his thoughts when he wondered that first time, which was as good as him asking Them aloud) whether his interference would _truly_ make things better – because, despite all the verbal and emotional abuse his son was putting her through, Kagome refused to be intimidated and had such an _indomitable_ , **fiery** spirit, that he fell in love with her all over again upon seeing it in full rather than in the snatches he had been shown earlier – She let him know that Kagome's spirit would never change… But he could make her use it more properly, more fiercely.

“Show her how to be inu, Toga – imagine how her spirit will be if she has grown up as inu, rather than as ningen.”

It only took a spare moment to decide that Amaterasu-sama was _definitely_ correct in that.

Especially when Kagome almost immediately adopted the orphaned kitsune kit as her own – she already had the right kind of instincts necessary; it would be wonderful to see her grown and _confident_ in herself. Toga was inordinately fond of the little fox kit, and resolved then and there to ask Omoikane-sama if he needed to prevent the jewel shattering, or if he could (or even _should_ ) allow the beginnings of her journey to happen as they naturally did – until Inuyasha gained the Tessaiga and the tachi was formed, because it would take at least that much time to return from his grave unless he wanted to exit from his son's eye. (He did not, thank you very much, and damn the magic that he'd used to place the pearl there. That magic made it so that if the basic existence inside of it changed drastically—such as Toga absorbing his skeleton, which he would have to do in order to regenerate fully—the convenient exit point would be from _where_ the stupid thing had originally been placed.) It seemed to Toga that every member of the Inutachi _needed_ to meet Kagome, in order to change for the better. And stay alive, too, at that.

In response to his as-yet-unspoken query, the Kami made Himself known and told Toga that he should, once Kagome fell through the well, follow her and wait in his tomb – his presence would be the beginning of the more important changes, such as Kagome allying _her_ pack (Toga was _more_ than willing to let his future mate take charge in her quest; it wasn't _his_ duty, after all – he was only there to be with her) with the Western Lord and the prince of the largest Eastern ōkami tribe. Omoikane-sama refused to tell him how that would happen, but he was looking forward to seeing it.

The encounter with Shiori solidified that yes, they needed to meet some of these people, continue the quest, or innocents would die for no good reason whatsoever. He didn't much care for strengthening Tessaiga, but supposed that the abilities would be useful and were probably necessary for Inuyasha to protect himself; the Kami seemed to have guided the group to where they needed to be and go.

Kaguya had been a riot—and her comment about Kagome had been enlightening – yet not a one of the Inutachi seemed to notice it. The only way that Kagome could die was completely willingly, if, indeed, she was timeless. Which meant that Inuyasha had so destroyed her gentle, kind, brave spirit that once he was gone she felt she had nothing left to live for. If he'd allowed her to continue raising the little kitsune that might have changed, but he had protested to the point that the kit just left to be raised by Sango and Miroku.

The whelp would be getting punished for that even though Toga would make absolutely sure that it wouldn't happen any more; although said punishment would be crouched in terms of “training”. And lessons on manners. And lessons on trusting one's instincts.

Seriously, the boy had done well surviving up until this point, but he had so little experience and knowledge about _anything_ that Toga was genuinely surprised that he'd survived. And there was  no way that that Kikyō woman had loved him – or that he had loved her. You didn't love someone and want them to change – as evidenced by Toga's repeated reluctance to do as the Kami asked of him. And you especially didn't love someone because they had power you wanted. That was just… _w_ _rong_.

After all; Toga might be happy that his (hopefully) future mate was incredibly powerful, and he might be changing her in many ways – but not because he wanted her to be different. He was doing it because he wanted her to be _happy_ , _loved_ , and _protected_. He was bound and determined to keep her as much the same as he could, to encourage her temper (although while teaching her when was best to let it loose and when to let it simmer so that revenge could be _planned_ properly), to nourish her open, loving heart, to enhance her loyalty, to nurture her pride, and to give her confidence in herself that could not be broken by anyone or anything.

And all the while, keeping her humble, sweet, gentle, and deeply kind.

Of course, Toga had a suspicion that all those traits were deeply ingrained into her soul – which was _not_ Kikyō's, no matter what any of those fools thought. Kagome's soul was _her own_ , after many, many incarnations over the past years – not the first incarnation, but the final one, for sure. Kikyō's soul had simply tagged along with the Shikon because she was so stupid as to burn her body with it. As if that would _actually_ destroy the accursed thing or keep it from returning where it damn well pleased. Her tagging along had made Kagome look like her for her youth; once she exited, Kagome began slowly growing into her _own_ appearance. But seriously, those blue eyes of Kagome's were  proof that she was not Kikyō, who had brown-black eyes – reincarnations _never_ differed so greatly from their previous incarnation after one life alone. They went through subtle changes – in the case of eyes, brown-black, to dark brown, to medium brown, to light brown, to hazel, to green, to green-blue, to blue.

Toga was inordinately pleased upon finding out that, unlike his youngest son, his firstborn saw the Shikon no Tama for what it was – a false, deceptive, and evil power that used its holder rather than the other way around.

Sure, Sesshōmaru had made mistakes – plenty of them – but so had Toga, and he knew that Kagome's garnering an alliance with his firstborn son would help him keep from making so many mistakes this time around.

About the girl, though…

Well – they would just have to see what happened. Maybe the Kami would interfere and make absolutely certain that that particular soul-bond managed to bloom. So far the rest of the original group was going to end up travelling with his Kagome's tachi; and the alliance would be between _her_ and the tachi in  general and Sesshōmaru – **not** the _group_ _in its individual parts_ and Sesshōmaru. His younger brother would likely still attack him repeatedly, and, no doubt, Kagome would allow it until serious injury happened, because she trusted that Sesshōmaru was stronger.

She was very matter of fact and, when she trusted her instincts, had loads of common sense.

It wasn't very long before she met that ridiculous ōkami prince, whom she promptly befriended in spite of the fact that he was her _captor…_

Toga sighed – his beloved was a trouble _magnet_ , and it seemed like the easiest way for someone to worm their way into her heart was to try and kill, harm, steal from, or abduct her.

It just endeared her to him all the more, if he was honest with himself – and whilst Toga would lie to others when necessary, he never, _ever_ lied to himself.

He wondered when exactly in her journey this happened – because, since he had seen the most important bits already, her interactions with Inuyasha and the bigger battles against Naraku, he was watching the little things, the daily grind, and jumping between that and the more important events (like _Ryūkotsusei_ , of all fucking yōkai), purposely watching out of order. If Toga didn't know what was going to happen, _when_ , it would make it easier for his beloved to keep the friends she had made during her original journey through the well. He wasn't there to change _anything_ except Higurashi Kagome's direct health – in all ways – during her quest. He wasn't there to take charge, defeat the evil hanyō (which would be a _breeze_ ) for the group, or anything else – and if anyone called him out on it he would let them know straight up that he had a different purpose in coming back, and that this was Kagome's quest to finish on her own, with the friends she chose to keep around her.

Of course, he _would_ be affecting a bit more than that by doing his job – he would be educating (and in the process, punishing) Inuyasha in reading and trusting his instincts, as well as the culture he should have grown up knowing – to an extent anyhow. The boy would likely never be suited for the courts, nor would he want to be, although he might very well, depending on his maturity by the time they took over, end up living with them in the Southern court. As well, he would keep the ōkami from annoying and upsetting his Kagome with those ridiculous claims, as was his right with a pack member.

She would know of his intent before she entered the well, even though he would not act on it if she didn't wish it, or until she was ready if she did have the same feelings for him as he did for her. And because he knew for _certain_ that in no world would she appreciate how the ōkami treated her (Kagome was _not_ property!), even if she denied his claim, he would still protect her from unwanted advances – simply as a father-figure or uncle-figure rather than as her betrothed; Kagome was going to be marked as pack when she was young, if he could manage it somehow.

Amaterasu-sama's voice echoed into his mind laughingly, “ _Oh, dear Toga – that girl knows what she wants and grabs hold of it, never letting go. She will be claiming you as her own before you can even state your intentions to her; mark_ _M_ _y words. We_ _ **all**_ _look forwards to seeing that… and now you will forget these words, because half of what_ _W_ _e are looking forwards to is the unalloyed surprise that will be on your face when she does so –_ _and_ _ **how**_ _she does so_ _._ ”

Toga blinked and tried to remember what he had been thinking about, then shrugged – it wasn't important. What was more important was watching Kagome “sit” Inuyasha three feet into the earth because he was fighting letting her go home for tests – Toga thought that there were a few reasons why his youngest son reacted in such a way to her leaving.

Firstly, Kagome was _much_ smarter than he was, and for a boy who had been degraded all of his life, her intelligence would be unwanted and unpleasant. Women, in this era, were supposed to be uneducated, so meeting one significantly smarter than him meant she was a threat. Second, he didn't _like_ the future, and even when he went there he was restricted where he could go. Finally, despite being rude, crude, borderline cruel, and pretty much an all around jerk, the hanyō  did care about Kagome in his own way, and he missed her whenever she was gone – hence why he almost _always_ went to grab her before her allotted time was up.

If Toga had his way, the boy would never get the chance to follow her down the well – he could go himself, and do a better job at protecting Kagome than Inuyasha was; not, by any means, that she would honestly need _protecting_ by that time.

Well, he'd seen pretty much everything he needed to see when it came to Naraku: all the big enemies, all the incarnations, all the allies and tricks and traps he used. Toga would make sure that Byakuya lived, if he was created and if it was possible, because having someone whose _mediocre_ illusions were **that** damn good in his debt – but not under his control – would be a _damn_ good thing. Kagura and Kanna might survive as well if Kagome intervened, but they really were of little use to Toga and he knew that being dead would allow them to pass on to their next lives, rapidly, even, because of their terribly short time alive, so he wasn't really bothered about if they did or not.

Admittedly, part of that was because they had both directly harmed his Kagome, for all they had no choice. Byakuya had had the chance, more than once, and simply left instead. Yes, he had attacked Kagome in the final battle – but that was the only time, and Toga knew that it was only so that he could fulfil his purpose in being created and pass on to a better life where he was not born enslaved. Toga appreciated that strongly.

And now it was time to wait again – part of his duty in order for him to gain his reward (being part of Kagome's life, in any way possible) was to wait, watch, and learn, so that he could help change the world; the Kami wanted their creations living _together_ in _harmony_ , not one species covering the world and killing it like a disease, whilst the others were forced into hiding in order to survive, and not one species dominating the others and threatening or forcing them into submission.

Toga grinned – hopefully part of his duty in making that happen was filling the world with adorable little hanyō pups with his mate. And because she had _power_ , these wouldn't be unstable like Inuyasha was.

Yes, that was a delightful idea.


	3. Chapter 3

The first time that Higurashi Kagome saw her absolute bestest, most wonderful, _huge_ , and really cool-looking (he had _lightning bolts_ on his _cheeks_! How  neat was that, seriously?!) friend, she was about to be three years old, and was visiting her grandpa's shrine for the first time _ever_.  He had always visited them before then, for some reason, telling them that it wasn't the right time to visit his home yet.

Well, okay, that first part wasn't _exactly_ true, because she already  knew Toga-san (which was why she had known he was her _bestest_ _friend_ _ever_ ). She had dreams of him every single night, without fail, and had for her _whole life_ , even from before she could remember! But those were _dreams_ , and even though he taught her lots and lots of Important and Necessary things in her dreams, it wasn't the same as actually _seeing_ him **in person**. Her daddy had been super worried when she ran towards him and called his name out, but Mama had just been surprised and a little shocked (Kagome could _feel_ other people's emotions, but that was a Big Secret between her and Toga-san for right now until she could control it better – though Toga-san said her grandpa would help her with that). However, it was very quickly that her grandpa – he was very old, very smart, and very silly – let them know that the see-through man was, indeed, real, and that “Toga-sama” was a respected guest who lived at his shrine, and had for a decade already. He had just kept himself hidden from everyone else until now.

Mama had surprisingly not been very surprised at that; Kagome got the feeling that Mama had accidentally (or maybe purposely, Toga-san was the type to make sure that people worried less, and Mama seeing him before would make her worry less about him being with Kagome) seen Toga-san a couple times before Grandpa banned everyone in his family from the shrine.

He also let them know that Kagome was the _only_ reason that Toga-san was there, and led them into the house to have a Talk with them, promising them that Toga-san wouldn't hurt her and telling them that she should spend some time with him now that she had the chance for the first time.

When they were gone into the house, Toga-san sat down on the ground, with his legs crossed, and opened his arms. Kagome _immediately_ knew what to do, running to him, climbing into his lap, and pressing her head under his chin, tears of happiness leaking down her cheeks as he growled softly to her, a sound she felt more than heard, but still heard, a little. That was what inu yōkai puppies did to adults in their pack that they liked, and what adults in a pack did for the puppies they liked. And Kagome didn't just  like Toga-san, she _adored_ him. He was her absolute bestest friend and would be **forever**. The tears were because Kagome hadn't known that she would _ever_ get to see Toga-san while she was still little, and she was just so _happy_ that she was with him in person!

One of the reasons why Toga-san would be her bestest friend forever was that Toga-san didn't treat her like a baby or like she could get hurt doing normal things. He had already told her that once she got older he would have friends of his teach her how to fight so she could protect herself and the friends she would make when she was bigger. And that he would take her camping in the woods behind the shrine and teach her how to live in the wild. _And_ that she was a  very powerful miko-sama who would change the world (although Kagome really could care less about _that_ ), and he would show her how to use her powers – both the yōkai way and the ningen way (her grandpa would teach her that). She had pouted at the last – Kagome might have been _born_ ningen, but she didn't _feel_ ningen, or like  being ningen, either… but then Toga-san told her that people might try to hurt her (which she didn't care much about) or her friends (which she absolutely _did_ care about, more than **anything** ) if she could only use her power like yōkai used their powers.

The idea of _anyone_ trying to hurt  her Toga-san had had her agreeing to that immediately.

And the best part? He had _promised_ to do all those things with and for her – Kagome knew in her deepest heart that Toga-san never, ever, **ever** broke a promise unless there was absolutely no choice whatsoever, which meant that even if her mama and daddy didn't like it, those things would still happen. Especially because Grandpa was on Toga-san's side.

Not until she was grown up more though – Toga-san said that Kagome had other things to learn first, most importantly how to be inu like he was. Kagome didn't know or care why it was important because it felt _right_ to be inu, to be like a yōkai.

All she had to do was compare the beautiful woods behind the shrine and the city where she lived, to make her absolutely hate ningen. Not all of them, because even though she was still little, Kagome knew better than to think that just because someone or a bunch of someones did something bad, that they were _all_ bad in _all_ ways; but as a whole, ningen were horrible, destroying all the pretty nature like they were. Kagome had a front seat to that destruction – there had been a  wonderful little park not very far from her house, and just a month ago people had started cutting down all the trees, so they could put a stupid _parking lot_ there, for a new store.

Kagome hoped that whatever way she would “change the world” meant people stopped doing things like _**that**_.

Toga-san, who had previously been licking her tears away basically since they started, pulled away now that her eyes were dry, took one look at her face, and asked her, “Little bird, what is on your mind that makes you frown so fiercely?”

Toga-san's voice washed over her, immediately making her relaxed, comfortable, and a _lot_ more content than she had been before – that didn't scare her though; Toga-san's voice always did that to her, because he was her alpha and she could  trust him. She relaxed into his half-solid form, playing with the wisps of silver hair that had fallen over his shoulders despite the ponytail holding his hair back. “This Kagome was thinking about her favourite park being ruined. I hate living there now. I want to live _here_ , and I'm **so** glad that you didn't let Grandpa have us visit before now, 'cause then I would have hated living where I do even more.”

Her best friend and protector hummed softly at that, before picking her up – somehow she didn't go through him, which was nice, but still distinctly _weird_ , if only because she could _see through him_ – and placing her on his left shoulder. He stood up then, and walked towards a tree he called “Goshinboku, the God Tree.”

He told her stories then, and she listened avidly, paying close attention to every single word he said and committing every last one to memory, as he looked back towards the shrine house – with a nod from the Divine face within, he took his beloved pack member into the forest, showing her the animals, birds, insects, reptiles. He named them all, told her how to identify them, and told stories about them when he could, the first of many similar lessons, doing his best to distract the child he loved so much from the pain in her heart.

Especially when he knew that in less than four short years, his precious little bird's pain would grow exponentially. Luckily, though, his friend Daisuke, who lived up to his name of “great helper”, was aware of the coming trauma, and already preparing for the inevitable – slowly enough that it wouldn't be noticed, but expediently enough that when the time came, he would be truly _ready_ , and in such a way that nobody would question it.

Daisuke was a wonderful friend, and had been ever since he sensed Toga wandering around the shrine and, shockingly enough, saw him – apparently Kagome's power was not inherited only from having been born with the Shikon inside of her. He was actually the reason that Toga even had a semi-solid form this early on – the Kami were intending to grant him the ability to be seen once Kagome turned ten, but not to be touched until he fully came back to life in the Sengoku Jidai. Daisuke, however, had been completely incensed at this, and had insisted that his granddaughter should be able to _touch_ her betrothed before she got thrust into a completely different era,  especially if she was being raised as an inu yōkai would be raised. Inu yōkai _relied_ on touch, dammit! The Kami had been impressed with the fact that he was willing to tell Them off and asked him what he was willing to give Them in order to make this happen.

His answer?

_All_ of his spiritual powers, excepting what he needed to keep the shrine protected and cleansed.

Toga had protested wildly at that – but the Kami, in Their wisdom, said that his willingness to give up that which he was most proud of, and that which kept him safe, meant the price would be lowered. He still had a significant amount of spiritual ability – They had hinted that he would need some of it relatively soon, so it was more than simple generosity – but certainly not so much that he would have been able to see or sense Toga without the daiyōkai now being semi-solid and half-visible.

Needless to say, Toga had been beyond grateful, and performed a yōkai blessing on the shrine – no yōkai with ill intent of _any kind_ would be able to enter this place for centuries now, even if the Higurashi descendants had absolutely no spiritual power whatsoever to keep the shrine barriers up. Ah, so _that_ would be why no yōkai who would wish to harm his Kagome would be able to harm her in this era once she lived at the shrine.

Just because this world was flawed and would become an “alternate” didn't mean that his friend's family on this side needed to go unprotected when the worlds parted.

He had also warned the old man about the fact that he had a very dangerous, truly evil artefact laying about in his storage shed – Sō'unga had been sealed enough that he could only feel a vague sense of distaste before then, but once he performed that blessing, the blade had projected all the hate it could muster towards him. Fortunately, it was still sealed – and very well – so Toga had instructed Daisuke on writing a very special kind of seal-wrapping, that used both reiryoku (which, being a Shinto priest, Daisuke had – unlike his miko granddaughter, and unlike those touched by Buddhism or Taoism whose holy energy developed into hōriki) and yōki combined to power it. It didn't take a genius to realise that _this_ had been what the Kami had been hinting at as to why they wouldn't take all of his powers barring what was necessary for the upkeep of the shrine away – and it also, since Toga had  not been in the modern era when Inuyasha came through the well with the body-snatching blade, explained how the whelp had gotten taken over by the thing. Someone must have disturbed the original seal.

Sō'unga had been screaming hatefully the entire time they added the second seal, loud enough that even Daisuke could hear it, but by the time they finished with the evil sword, it was silenced once more. Then Toga instructed Daisuke on how to form another protection that used reiryoku and yōki – blandly informing the fairly surprised man that _originally_ , back when he was a young yōkai, there had been no such enmity between ningen and yōkai, and they had worked together frequently and happily. He had protections memorised that used hōriki, reiryoku, _and_ reiki, which was far more powerful when trained than it was amongst most people who never even knew they had it. Even  yōkai had reiki, after all. Every living being did.

This second protection was a sealed cedar (cedar channelled energy _extremely_ well) chest, in which they placed the sword, with an extravagant and potent seal burned into every surface of the chest. Then it was locked, the key and keyhole both _melted_ (thanks to Sesshōmaru, with whom he had a great relationship due to his presenting himself to the other daiyōkai after Kagome's death and expressing his pride in his growth), and an ofuda slapped atop it – the strongest one that Daisuke was capable of making. One that, he informed Toga, every single person in his family – even the extended parts – knew better than to even  attempt to remove or touch.

Most of them didn't really believe in supernatural powers, but he used that ofuda on naturally dangerous items as much as supernaturally dangerous ones, so they simply played it safe and didn't touch anything with one of them on it.

Toga had to admit, that was a very clever way of getting around the fact that modern-day ningen didn't believe in things like possession or supernatural corruption, yōkai, or genuinely powerful miko, monks, priests, and priestesses.

When Daisuke asked Toga how he had known about the sword, Toga told him about the history behind it, how he had used to own it, and how, in another time, it had possessed his youngest son. He also let it slip that his sons had banished it to hell together, and Daisuke had asked if maybe that was meant to happen – at which point Toga told the old ningen that the biggest reason, fate-wise, for that incident to happen, was that it meant his two sons had to work together. With a _different_ Kagome in the picture, something  else would inevitably happen; and besides – being in hell meant little to a being such as Sō'unga. After all, all it took was a summoning ritual gone wrong – or _right_ – to bring the spirit of the blade back onto this plane.

No, it was _much_ safer sealed and locked away in this dimension, hidden from any who might recognise what it was. Yes, because of exposure to Toga it would get brought with them to the other dimension – _still locked in the chest_. Not outside of it; the seals and protections were  that powerful.

Toga pulled himself out of his thoughts with a smile as his little bird gasped in delight – right there, in front of them, was a stunning crow, staring at them with the intelligence often found in animals that had been born and raised exposed to spiritual energy or yōki. Crows and their brethren were some of the most intelligent birds in existence already – Toga wouldn't be surprised if it was capable of telepathic speech like many lesser and greater beast yōkai without humanoid forms were capable of.

Sure enough, a voice – intelligent, filled with a sardonic and snarky sense of humour, and cautious – entered his mind then, and stated, “ _The girl doesn't live here yet but she will soon. I'll be back when she visits, and I'll **stay** once she's living here. For a while at least – that girl doesn't belong here, and I can't go where she belongs. Goodbye, Inu no Taishō._ ”

He was greatly amused at the straightforward, blunt, and frank speech that the bird gave him, and was completely unsurprised that the crow stayed around for another minute – once it left, his own little bird exclaimed in awe, “His name is Kei, and he says he will visit me whenever I come here! Toga-san, this Kagome has another friend!”

The daiyōkai couldn't help but be amused with and pleased for her; the crow had known she was capable of communicating with animals, somehow. After training she would be capable of speaking with any beast yōkai in any form, no matter if it was greater yōkai or lesser yōkai. She really was too adorable, and he was looking forward to watching her grow into the wonderful young woman that he just _knew_ she would become. Especially with her being so  damn intelligent already – Kagome acted more like a five or six year old than a nearly-three year old. She really _was_ well-suited to being raised yōkai.


	4. Chapter 4

Higurashi Naoko was both excited and nervous. Ever since she had become pregnant with her sweet, precious little Kagome, her father-in-law Daisuke had forbidden Isamu and her from coming to the shrine; stating only that there was “something bad” that needed to be taken care of, and that he wouldn't be inviting them back until he was _absolutely_ positive that it had been neutralised.

Isamu had been a little sceptical, but Naoko had seen the bright, beautiful pink light that surrounded and sank into her daughter the first time she held her, and decided that all those things she had thought to be silly superstitions and the like were _never_ to be outright dismissed in her mind again.

It didn't hurt her new point of view that she had, at times before her pregnancy, seen something she couldn't explain away easily, walking around the shrine grounds; or the conversations she had heard Daisuke-san having with seemingly nobody. At first she had just thought him talking aloud to himself – everybody did that once in a while after all – but now, after seeing that supernatural light surrounding her daughter and thinking about her father-in-law's words... Well, she had convinced Isamu that maybe it was _best_ for Kagome to grow up in one place for her first few years – to give her a good grounding and sense of self without being transported between the home Isamu had grown up in and the home they lived in _now_.

And really, it had been a wonderful thing – Kagome was sweet, gentle, kind, open-hearted, _beyond_ intelligent…  And ever so slightly… Uh… _W_ _eird_.

Higurashi Naoko might have a feline for a pet now – and Buyo was wonderful – but growing up, she had been surrounded by _dogs…_

There was no escaping the fact that Higurashi Kagome was a dog in human form. Gestures, looks, body language, noises – that little girl was, somehow, growing up to be completely canine in nature… And, shockingly enough, Naoko and Isamu would have it _no other way_. Their daughter was loyal, protective, determined, outspoken—without being brash, instinctively understood things well beyond her age, loving, and so utterly affectionate that it blew them away. Usually by the time a child reached three years of age they began pulling away a little from affection, wanting to be seen as a “big kid” for a couple years before they returned to being affectionate for a few more years.

Not their Kagome. If anything, as time passed she was becoming even more affectionate and attached to them. Granted, she wasn't quite three yet, but she was close enough.

Naoko had asked once, a few months after Kagome turned two and was already speaking well beyond what she should have been at her age, where she had learned to act like she did, and she had simply responded, “This Kagome is learning to be what she is meant to be from her bestest friend ever, her alpha, Toga-san. He promised me that you would meet him someday soon, and he _never_ breaks his promises. Oh right, I'm learning in my dreams!”

That had actually been a comfort – someone powerful enough to be alpha of a pack was educating her daughter in something that undoubtedly had to do with that light that had surrounded her; and was doing it in such a manner that she could be taught from a very young age without having to spend time away from her physical family. Although, the answer hadn't cleared everything up yet, so Naoko had asked her daughter another question – the answer to which completely tilted her world on its axis; and made her _very_ glad that she had already begun to accept that “supernatural” things existed as fact, not fiction. “What are you meant to be, Kagome-chan?”

Her sweet, precious daughter bounced happily at that, her pigtails twining around her ears as she answered, “Inu yōkai, of course! Oh, and a miko-sama, but that comes later. Learning to be inu is most important because it will make this Kagome strong and confident so that she can fulfil her destiny.”

The last part of that was said in a manner that meant it had been memorised just for an occasion such as this one, and Naoko silently thanked her daughter's sensei and protector – whoever he was, since only a first name wasn't much to go on in the knowledge department. The irony of her daughter's pigtails mimicking floppy puppy ears was not lost on her either – and she suspected that this was the reason that Kagome _always_ wore pigtails when she was allowed, whether Kagome herself realised that or not.

Somehow, she got the feeling that there was a _lot_ more to this than she could see right now, but she trusted her instincts and her instincts told her this person would protect her daughter with his life, and loved her deeply.

However, Naoko said nothing of this to Isamu – he was entirely sceptical of anything spiritual or supernatural, and would refuse to believe of her daughter's dreams as anything but some strange flight of fancy until he had proof. It wasn't as if Isamu was a bad person; he was wonderful, loving, and big-hearted, as well as protective and kind. He just wasn't as open-minded as Naoko had become. Which was, admittedly, slightly mixed up; considering that _he_ was the son of a Shinto priest and had grown up on a shrine, whereas Naoko herself had been raised half in America, land of sceptics, and half in Japan – well, Nihon, as it was _truly_ called. Kagome got those absolutely stunning eyes of hers – eyes that shifted from a misty, almost silvery blue, to an almost midnight blue, depending on her mood—but that mostly stayed a cerulean shade—from Naoko's father.

The brunette sighed and stared into her own brown eyes, steeling herself for the excitement to come. She just _knew_ that something truly important was going to happen today, and she needed fortitude to weather it out.

Finally ready, she picked up her daughter – who, at her request, was in an adorable peridot green yukata with plum blossoms decorating it, a soft bronze obi that truly complimented her eyes, and even going so far as to wear tabi and komageta. That in and of itself could have been attributed to Kagome wanting to enter the shrine properly as the granddaughter of the priest who owned it… But instead of wearing her hair down, in a ponytail, or in a low bun, she was wearing those pigtails that she adored.

Which meant that they would be meeting her daughter's mysterious (and _not human_ ) educator and protector today. However, Naoko doubted that Kagome realised it, or the excitement she had would be far less subdued – it was clear that Kagome adored her “sensei”, whoever he was, probably as much as she did Naoko and Isamu; not that Naoko minded at all. Even if it had been a parental sort of love, she still wouldn't have minded, but it was obviously a different sort of love – a kind of love that didn't really have a parallel in human culture, but that Naoko identified to be pack-love. Sort of familial, but also not really familial.

The _really_ surprising thing had been that Kagome managed to walk around in her traditional wear _incredibly_ well for a girl who had only ever worn yukata for festivals – and had _never_ worn geta, instead wearing the flat-bottomed setta or waraji; depending on the time of year and what was most appropriate for her outfit. When she softly asked her little girl about it, Kagome happily chirped that she had been taught in her dreams.

Yes, Naoko just _knew_ that this person was going to surprise the _hell_ out of her and Isamu – her slightly less, but even so. In fact, this person had probably been a large part of why they had been banned from the shrine since Naoko became pregnant – not even since she  knew she was pregnant; that was the first really, obviously, and most inescapably _weird_ thing that had happened to Naoko in her  whole life. Her father-in-law had blanched, informed her that she was pregnant, and then said that none of his family was allowed on the shrine grounds until a problem with something bad that he was dealing with had been completely neutralised.

She hadn't believed him at first, about the pregnancy, and had mostly forgotten the incident when, two months later, she started getting morning sickness, realised she hadn't had her period, bought a test, and tested positive. And then she was so wrapped up in becoming a mother that she'd entirely forgotten about that odd little encounter.

Considering that her Kagome was being taught _inu_ yōkai culture… Well; her pregnancy had probably been _scented_ , and since whoever was living there was very attached to her daughter, they didn't want her or her family anywhere _near_ whatever malevolent thing they were taking care of, which made Naoko incredibly happy that she had been safe from exposure to whatever it was.

“Naoko! Kagome-chan! Are you ready?”

She smiled and let Kagome down, then pulled her forward, with a “Yes, dear,” that was simultaneously joined with a “Yes, Daddy!”

Isamu smiled proudly at his daughter and knelt down to her, “Grandpa will be _very_ pleased with how you look today, Kagome-chan. You look stunning, dear. Now, let's go!”

They all clambered into the car and drove the hour-long drive to the shrine that was on the edge of the city – and bordering a nature reserve and mountain that made it an enormous piece of property with a proper forest behind it.

Kagome didn't stumble even once when they walked up the slightly absurd amount of stairs – nor did she tire, which was rather surprising – but _everyone_ of the threesome got an  enormous shock when they spotted a man in Feudal Era clothing, armour off to the side of him, unmistakeably _real_ and _there…_ but also  see-through _ **.**_

Naoko was shocked to see him, but not worried, especially when his eyes locked onto her daughter with completely helpless, utter adoration and a love so deep that Naoko just _knew_ that no human would ever be able to match it. Isamu, however – well, worry crept into his features when his daughter cried out happily and ran to the strange yōkai. “Toga-san!”

Her eyes were shining with adoration just as deep as the yōkai held for her, and she stopped a respectful distance away – obviously waiting for some signal from her alpha that she was allowed to approach. Naoko would be discreetly looking out the kitchen window when they went inside – she had a suspicion that her husband would strongly disapprove of a strange male _holding_ his daughter like Naoko suspected would happen; but she wanted to watch the interaction. She knew that something important – but absolutely chaste and appropriate – was happening right now.

Sure enough, it only took a second for Grandpa to grumble out in a surprisingly commanding tone, “That, my children, is Toga-sama. He is a _very_ respected guest who has been living here for a decade now – he's just very good at staying hidden when others are around because it wasn't time for you to know about him yet.”

Naoko snuck a look at the yōkai and he sent her a wink – okay, so he had _let_ her see him those times; which, in the end, was a good thing, so she wouldn't complain.

“Higurashi Kagome is the _only_ reason that Toga-sama is even on this plane of existence, much less in this era, and we are now going to go inside and talk about exactly what the Kami have planned for my dear friend and dearest granddaughter – I give you my word that Toga-sama is incredibly honourable and would never hurt your daughter in any way whatsoever. Besides, she deserves to finally spend time in person with her beloved alpha now that she has the chance for the first time.”

Strange, how the daughter-in-law had more faith than the son did. But still, Isamu followed her, and she offered to get the tea, Grandpa winking at her and agreeing – and what she saw out the kitchen window _completely melted her heart_. The yōkai male had sat down cross-legged, held his arms out, and Kagome ran to him, collapsing into his lap with tears running down her cheeks after nuzzling her head under his chin, obviously overwhelmed with happiness. Confirmation that this Toga-sama was indeed her daughter's teacher came when, in a completely canine gesture, he began licking the tears from her cheeks, probably even going so far as to growl lowly, although Kagome could likely feel that better than she could hear it.

She turned away then, not wanting to intrude on such an obviously intimate and private moment, and continued fixing the tea; hearing, just before she left, that Toga-sama called Kagome “little bird” – that was both utterly adorable, and completely fitting… But somehow she suspected that iteration of the nickname would only last through childhood, and that as her daughter became an adult it would be “little _one_ ” instead. Unless he was teasing her, of course. Men were, deep down, all alike in some ways.

Naoko, surprisingly, was not upset with this – especially because it was obvious that his attentions were nothing less than entirely appropriate and chaste right now at this time.

When she brought the tea to the table and served it, completely unknowing of the presence that had replaced her when she left, Grandpa began talking slowly, considering his words as he spoke them, and seemingly waiting for something.

“As I said, Toga-sama's been living here for ten years... and before you know anything else about him you should know _who_ he is. Toga-sama is none other than the Inu no Taishō – the great Dog General of the West.”

Oh, _Kami_. Isamu had the sense to blanch, and look discreetly towards the window he couldn't see out of. “The greatest daiyōkai to ever live? You mean he actually _existed_? Does that mean the rest of them – those stories you told us all growing up… They're _actual history_?”

Grandpa wasn't gloating, or smirking, or even smiling. His face was completely serious as he nodded. “There are some friendly beast yōkai – greater ones, but ones that can't take human forms – that live in the forest behind the shrine. In addition to those individuals, an entire _family_ of greater tanuki and a decent sized pack of lesser kitsune  both live there, though they reside in opposite areas, and _much_ further back. The shrine protections are against malevolent yōkai – not friendly ones. The reason that you were so – and I do apologise again for this – rudely ejected from the property is that, quite obviously, Toga-sama is attached to Kagome… and just two months before you visited, the Sword of Hell, Sō'unga, was discovered in the shrine's store-room, mislabelled. In case you don't know, that thing possesses whoever grabs hold of it – and can raise the dead and control them.

“It was wrapped up pretty well, but Toga-sama helped me form an even stronger cloth seal for it—be glad you weren't around to hear that hell-spawn _screaming_ the entire time we were wrapping the new seal around it—and then we set about making a chest with seals burned into every surface of it. We had only finished one of the two smallest sides of the chest when you arrived, and Toga-sama was adamant that his Kagome would not be anywhere near that vile sword, even unborn, and that until we could be absolutely positive that the sword was thoroughly trapped in the chest we made for it, you couldn't have her near here – I only banned the whole family so as not to single you out.”

Before Isamu could catch onto the “his Kagome” part of the speech, Naoko reached across the table and said, utterly gratefully, “Thank you _so_ very much, honoured father. I have heard of Sō'unga, and the idea of my daughter being anywhere near that sword with only a single meagre seal on it…”

Isamu nodded at that as well, his hand joining his wife's. “I thank you, Father, for listening to your friend and sparing my daughter... but what, pray tell, was that about “his” Kagome?”

Hooooo boy. Naoko just _knew_ that Isamu probably wasn't going to like this. He _was_ a father, after all, and Kagome was his baby girl. Talk about Awkward. _Yes_ , that capital “A” was absolutely necessary.

\- - -

Translations:

Yukata – “summer” kimono; basically an everyday kimono made of a lighter fabric and usually used for less formal occasions than regular kimono are. Their sleeves are shorter than kimono sleeves, ending above the wrist, which is the easiest way to tell them apart in the modern era where yukata are often just as intricately patterned as kimono are. Yukata never have trailing sleeves, and _traditionally_ they are usually either patternless or very simply patterned. They are also used with fewer, if any, under-layers.

Obi – a sash used to tie various traditional garments closed.

Tabi – split-toed socks designed for use with Japanese sandals – so the big toe rests in its area and the rest of the toes are encased similar to how regular socks are.

Komageta – female geta, which are more of an oval shape, compared to male geta which are square and have no special name, just called geta.

Geta – Japanese sandals, wooden rectangles or ovals with elevated wooden supports, notably somewhat to very difficult to learn to walk on, depending on the person. They have sandal straps that are essentially like flip-flop straps. Yes, it is unrealistic for Kagome to be wearing them so young. That is kind of the  _point_ \- Toga is making her yōkai and they develop much more rapidly and gracefully than ningen do.

Setta – Japanese sandals that are flat and thick-bottomed that are traditionally made with bamboo bark and straw, having leather soles. The straps are the same as geta straps.

Waraji – a “traveller's sandal” traditionally made of bamboo bark and straw, designed with straps that wrap up the wearer's foot and secure around the ankle tightly. Depending on the makers they sometimes have leather soles like setta do. Again, the essential straps start like geta straps, but there are loops on the sides that the straps run through to hold the sandal close to the foot.


	5. Chapter 5

Suddenly a form of condensed, cloud-like mist hovered above the table, and the group sitting there were watching as their little girl sat – very adorably – upon one of Toga-sama's shoulders, and he pointed various animals and plants out to her, telling her little stories about them and educating her on things that would be good for her to know if she were ever stuck in the wilderness. It was clear that this was not just a one-time lesson, either; Toga-sama fully intended on making Kagome capable of fending for herself in the wild. Grandpa wasn't the least bit surprised – to be honest, neither was Naoko – and she suspected that their combined matter-of-fact attitude was the only thing keeping Isamu from being completely overwhelmed.

Isamu was a wonderful person, and she loved him with all her heart, but most people didn't deal well with change, and his entire _world_ had been turned upside down in a matter of minutes. At least Naoko had had almost three years – and then, when thinking back later on, even more than that – to change her view on what was physically possible in this world.

So, to diffuse the tension and keep his shock and confusion from turning into anger, Naoko clasped his hands and said bluntly, “I'm very sorry for keeping this from you Isamu.”

That stopped him short, and he tilted his head, blinking at her, “You were just as surprised at most of this…”

She nodded, but then responded softly, “When Kagome was born, the first time I held her in my arms, a bright, shimmering light of the purest, softest pink surrounded her, and then sank into her skin. It was then that I firmly decided to open my mind to the fact that maybe supernatural things did exist, and that maybe your father had a _very_ good reason for keeping us away from the shrine – just because my first inescapable experience with the supernatural was apparently pure and beautiful didn't mean that all things were so, after all; or that the appearance of what I saw was a truly honest portrayal of what it was. And then, just shortly after Kagome turned two, I asked her where she was learning all those gestures – you've never had dogs, Isamu, but I grew up _surrounded_ by them, and almost **all** of her affection has an absolutely  blatant canine lean to it.

“She promptly told me that she was learning them in her dreams, because she was meant to be inu yōkai, it was _important_ , and that also she would be learning to be a miko when she got older, but that learning to be inu was more important as young as she is because it would make her stronger.”

Naoko chuckled wryly, “I was more shocked that her instructor and alpha was a _ghost_ than I was that he was yōkai – or that he was even here. I suspected he would be here when I saw she was wearing her pigtails instead of a hairstyle traditionally worn with yukata.”

Soft brown eyes gave him a truly sorrowful and guilt-ridden look, as she finished her speech, “I didn't know how to tell you – because I felt you wouldn't believe me until you experienced it yourself, passing them off as some fantasy or strange fancy… I'm _so_ sorry, Isamu…”

Her husband sighed, shook his head, and kissed her hands, “No – you were right not to tell me, beloved. I definitely wouldn't have believed you, and being confronted with all of this and realising I had purposely blinded myself earlier would simply have made me angry. And, seeing as you quite obviously know more about this than I do; and about that _comment_ that I am wondering about—don't think I was unaware why you _really_ went to serve us tea, dearest—you can perhaps explain what you know, and then Father can fill in the gaps?”

That was a good compromise, so Naoko spoke up, “I can swear to you, Isamu, that Toga-sama's intentions and affections are _completely_ honourable. He treats her as he would a non-related pack member that is still a child. I can also assure you that no matter what, his intentions towards her will _always_ be honourable, and it will be her choice in how things change between them… Grandpa?”

Naoko could assume, guess, and use instinct about how she _thought_ things would go, but she didn't actually _know_ , and she had a feeling that this was something _**huge**_ that was about to be dropped on their heads… Especially when the cloud-mist formed another picture. It was one of Kagome, obviously much older, opening the door to the well-house… and as soon as the door opened, the picture stopped. Grandpa spoke then, “This has already happened, and is about to happen, and will  never happen. Yes, it's confusing – the Kami can be very cruel in the name of protecting Their loved ones. What is directly about to happen with the well, the centipede yōkai, and the hanyō will happen, no matter what – it _has_ to.

“The rest of the bits and pieces the Kami are about to show you, however, have already happened before – and the Kami were so upset and displeased with the eventual outcome that they brought in Toga-sama, a good millennia before he was going to reincarnate and allowing him to keep to his current form, to rectify things. I will explain the various reasons they brought in the Inu no Taishō once this is done with.”

And then began a film that was fantastic, crazy, hectic, wonderful, terrifying – and completely, wholly, utterly _heartbreaking_. To see her beautiful baby girl treated like that, thinking it was _fine_ , loving someone who so clearly didn't love her for herself, to watch her give up her life for someone who was clearly using her as a convenient _substitute_ , even though it was clear that the “original” had been nothing like Kagome… To see her daughter repeatedly abandoned and attacked and left behind, before being forced from the person she loved and back into the modern world. But the well opened back up, and it seemed that despite it all she would have her “happy” ending; and sure, he treated her better, but he still didn't treat her _right…_

And then, being left for someone else, and so heartbroken that…

Naoko couldn't bear to think about it. Neither could Isamu, apparently, who was holding her and stroking her hair as they each cried on their partner's shoulders.

It took a while but finally they calmed down, and Naoko handed Isamu one of her handkerchiefs, both of them wiping their eyes dry.

“Kagome is timeless. She cannot die by any simple means – possibly not at all – due to the jewel that she was born protecting inside of her own body; that pink glow you saw the day of her birth, Naoko. As far as we and the Kami are aware of, the _only_ way that Higurashi Kagome can die is by  wanting to do so. The Kami were so greatly distressed and angered by this turn of events that They looked into Kagome's soul, found the strongest soul-bond They could find, and _yanked_ on it... Leading to Toga-sama falling right into Their midst, quite confused considering he rightly ought to have been dead for a good thousand or so more years.

“All of the Kami excepting Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama and Omoikane-sama were quite surprised at this – especially when They realised that Kagome had _never_ been soul-bound to the hanyō excepting a bond of friendship and motherly affection. She _could_ have been soul-bound to the older son romantically, but just as easily bound to him in a manner more befitting a sister or a mother. Toga-san, however, upon examination, only had _one_ soul-bond… and that was to Kagome. They didn't tell him this though – instead They let him watch what we just saw, only more extensive; still not the entirety, but Toga-sama told me it took him four days to watch what They gave him. Then They let his reaction speak for itself.

“He was beyond furious, and demanded that They tell him what to do to fix the situation.”

Naoko chuckled a bit, “Well, it seems our little Kagome made an impression on him.”

Grandpa nodded, “Oh, that she did. He fell _hard_ , head over heels – and then, when he was told he had to watch the rest of what she went through, and exist as a ghost until she went through the well, he accepted completely willingly – and fell in love with her _all over again_ as he saw all the things he missed out on during the condensed version. Wanna know the best thing about all of this?”

Her husband was the one to answer this; genuinely taken in and intrigued by now, “Do tell; it must be big if you are grinning so madly, father.”

“ _Twice_ , he asked Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama _and_ Omoikane-sama if him interfering in her upbringing wouldn't change those things he loved about her – he was perfectly willing to watch her grow up without any contact whatsoever until she went through the well, despite the fact that he is inu yōkai, she is his soul-mate, and his instincts would be screaming at him to be around her in any way possible, just so he could touch her in some way. He was willing to undergo literal torture so long as he didn't change her from the person he loved.”

Isamu blinked in shock at that, then looked at the window that showed outside, “Okay, so they're meant for each other, I can believe that and I can accept it with no ill will. However, how is this going to affect _her_ , and _us_ , while she grows up and before she goes to the well – and what about school?”

“Right now, even though Toga-sama is very much in love with _adult_ – and considering _when_ he comes from originally, with the right amount of maturity, which I do believe she'll have, fourteen, even thirteen, is adult to him – Kagome, child Kagome is simply pack. Think of it as extended family not related by blood, or related so distantly by blood that they might as well not be anyhow. Right now, to Kagome, he is simply a teacher, mentor, and friend. As she grows their interactions will change – although as a warning, inu are incredibly, constantly affectionate.

“Yes it is improper in our culture and most people would think very badly about it, but he is _not_ _human_. Toga-sama is a yōkai, a canine, one who simply takes a humanoid form because it is more convenient than running around as a dog the size of a small mountain. What is inappropriate amongst those in our culture is not only appropriate, but _necessary_ amongst inu yōkai. Ultimately, however, Kagome will be the one to make the decision if she wants to mate him or not – he will never force her into it, the mere idea of such a thing is beyond abhorrent to him. To be honest, I think our Kagome is going to force the issue, rather than him bringing it up first. It will be  hilarious if she does, and I desperately hope Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama allows me to see it.

“As for schooling – home-school, paid for by Toga-sama himself. Or rather, his eldest son – but since a large chunk of that money was _inherited_ it might as well be Toga-sama's. He intends for her to learn enough that even if we are wrong about our theory that Kagome can not only not  die by natural means, but also can not be _killed_ , she will still be in very little danger from her adventures. His eldest son will be teaching her how to use katana and wakizashi in the traditional samurai manner, an orphaned neko yōkai he found a hundred years ago who could see him and is _very_ talented with daggers – even going so far as throwing them – will be teaching her how to use those, and Toga himself will be teaching her how to use both the longbow and a hunting bow. He has also tentatively found an Aikido instructor and a _kyokushin_ Karate instructor – his son is negotiating lessons and prices with them.

“At night she will be learning yōkai culture, proper etiquette and manners, politics, and _old_ history, as well as a few other various things; such as how to do proper tea ceremonies in both the human and yōkai ways in various situations. Toga-sama is leaving her modern education up to me, so long as she is home-schooled – he knows of a “school” that teaches shrine children, alternating the shrines where the children are taught, and once they reach the final year of junior high school they are each given enough assignments for two weeks, and at the end of every two week period, they give in their assignments. Frankly, it's ideal, considering what our girl is going to be doing during her final middle school year.”

They thought about that and it really did seem to be the best option… However, there was something missing… “Oh! What about her powers?”

“Toga-sama and I will teach her to use her reiki and spiritual powers – they aren't reiryoku like I have, reiryoku is _blue_ not _pink_ , so we'll let her pick what to call them. And don't worry about the old yōkai – he's far too powerful to be harmed by purification powers of any strength. Even his eldest son shares that immunity to them when he first meets Kagome in the Sengoku Jidai, and he was _far_ younger than Toga-sama at the time, just less than four hundred years old.”

Suddenly the front door opened and the subjects of their conversation stepped in – one of them obviously asleep, and the other watching over her adoringly before tilting his head towards the door, “It is about to rain, so I thought I would bring my little bird inside. Daisuke-san, is there somewhere I can lay her down so that she may nap uninterrupted? I fear we got carried away with our walk in the forest, as fun as it was for her. Well, at least she stopped being so upset about the park for now. Also, we met a crow – not yōkai but one of _those_ , you know – named Kei, that has decided to be her friend until she has to go through the well. So, if you see any crows hanging about, feed them, would you?”

Grandpa stood up and walked up the stairs, opening the door at the back left, showing a room decorated in tasteful shades of pink, yellow, and green – obviously meant for a young girl, but a mature young girl. Toga-sama shifted Kagome from his arms, causing her to whimper softly, and him to growl just as softly back at her, before speaking, “Be a good pup for me, Kagome, and finish your nap – I promise, I will just be downstairs with your family – this Toga is not going to be leaving you while we are both at the shrine.”

Their little girl mumbled something incoherent that made the yōkai chuckle, and he and Grandpa left the room, closing the door behind them. Once they were sitting down at the table – Toga-sama taking his place next to Grandpa – Isamu asked, “What is this about the park? And what is “one of _those_ ” exactly?”

Toga-sama answered easily and readily – leaving Naoko content that her daughter was in _very_ good hands indeed.

\- - -

Translations:

Neko – cat


	6. Chapter 6

It was all Kagome could do right now not to _scream_ at the horrible, gossiping, selfish, cruel _harpies_ who were whispering such  nasty things about her mama, just because Sesshōmaru-sama had been kind enough to help the heavily-pregnant woman manoeuvre around during the funeral. It was bad enough that Kagome herself couldn't scream at the unfairness (or the relief; _don't think about that you can't let them notice_ _because it wasn't Daddy's fault,_ _the Shikon made him_ _act like that_ ) of losing her daddy because some _stupid ningen_ had been driving drunk; her mama did  not deserve to have to be where this stuff was being said. Even though her mama was probably either grieving too much to listen or simply couldn't hear the women – Kagome's use of her reiki and miko-ki (as she called the pink purification power she had instead of the reiryoku that most miko-sama, Shinto priests and priestesses, and her grandpa had) from such a young age was changing her body permanently, or so it seemed.

Deciding to shut the harpies up, she sniffled and tugged on Sesshōmaru-sama's sleeve, giving him a warning that she was about to be ever-so-slightly informal with him with titles – it was time those women knew exactly what place Sesshōmaru-sama had in the life of their family and _regretted_ what they were saying about her mama. He looked down at her, and, after helping her mama sit down, crouched down in front of her. “Kagome-chan?”

“T-this Kagome j-just wanted to t-thank you for helping Mama, S-Sesshōmaru-sensei. Since… since Grandpa isn't strong enough to help her, and this Kagome knows you have better things to do than help her mama around just because Grandpa asked you to help Mama because she _knows_ you since you're this Kagome's sword-sensei.”

She had composed herself _very_ well by the time she finished speaking – and all those _nasty_ women had shut up, and Kagome could feel how incredibly appalled every last one of them were for assuming things like  that about a grieving, pregnant widow with a little girl… _E_ _specially_ because every last one of them had also realised that the six year old girl had almost certainly  heard them saying such reprehensible things – and if the girl could hear them, then undoubtedly the _incredibly_ handsome sensei of hers could as well.

It didn't excuse their complete pettiness, rudeness, and total misconduct, but Kagome loved her empathy right now, because the shame radiating off of those horrible women was just what they _deserved_ for thinking things like that about her mama. Especially since Kagome knew well and good that three of them were yōkai and hanyō—they weren't even _attempting_ to conceal or restrain their yōki, the idiots—and could smell that there was _no_ improper contact between her sword-sensei and her mama, they had just been being vin… Vin…di… What was that word Toga-san taught her last week? Oh! Vin-dic-tive! Vindictive. Right. All because Sesshōmaru-sama was handsome and they wanted to be with him.

As _if_. Rin-sama was the only woman that Sesshōmaru-sama had eyes for, and they made such a beautiful couple together. “You are very welcome, little Kagome-chan. Now, we must be quiet.”

Sorrow washed over Kagome again as she nodded, her thought before his response pushing her into remembering how _wonderful_ her Mama and Daddy had looked last week, the night before the accident, and she covered her face, keeping her sobs silent as she wished for nothing more than to be with Toga-san right now. Sesshōmaru-sama was technically supposed to be his replacement, since Toga-san couldn't be _felt_ anywhere except the shrine grounds (well, and the forest – but Kagome supposed that was a part of the shrine, still), even though he could be seen by people he needed to be seen by.

Kagome had _almost_ been mad at her alpha when he said he wouldn't be coming to the funeral, until he quietly and gently explained to her that if he had to watch her cry and be unable to comfort her, it would probably break him. Kagome thought about what it would be like if Toga-san was upset like she was, and _she_ couldn't help _him_ , but still had to watch…

The six year old had hugged her absolute best friend and her alpha _very_ tightly then, and promised she wouldn't be mad at him, no matter  how much she missed him, and that she would come right back there to be with him so that he _could_ hold her and comfort her.

Out of everyone in the family, Grandpa was taking this the easiest, but Kagome already knew why, although she had sworn to herself that she wouldn't say anything to her mama about it. Especially because it might make Mama angry with Toga-san and Kagome just _could not_ handle having her mama be mad at her alpha. Even more especially because Kagome had a sneaking suspicion that if she had to choose, she would pick Toga-san…

Okay, no more thinking about _that_ – it wouldn't be happening. Mama really liked Toga-san, and Mama would never, _ever_ find out that Grandpa had known, ever since he met Toga-san thirteen years ago, that Daddy was going to die this year. He had just made them all “guest-rooms” so that when Daddy died, they could move to the shrine and live there, because Mama had almost no memories of Daddy there, but at “home” she had so many memories that she was crying  all the time.

Besides, Mama had stayed home so she could take care of Kagome before and after school, which meant Mama didn't have a job – and being pregnant with Kagome's baby brother meant she couldn't _get_ a job – but Sesshōmaru-sama and several friends of Toga-san's donated to the shrine to keep it up and running and make their lives easier – especially once they found out about Toga-san being Kagome's alpha. She didn't really understand why that mattered, but she didn't care either. Toga-san was pack, and that was all that mattered.

Kagome had done a good job of distracting herself, because the funeral was over now, and Kagome decided that, since she was always a good, obedient girl, she could ask to be selfish, _just this once_. Besides – Kagome knew that her face reminded her mama an _awful_ lot of what her daddy might have looked likeif he was a girl, and that sometimes her mama hurt, when she looked at her. This would be good for the both of them.

So she walked around Sesshōmaru-sama as he helped her mama up, and then tightly grasped her mama's shaking hand, tugging it very gently. Since she had waited for her mama to be standing, she immediately got attention from both Mama and Sesshōmaru-sama. “Mama… Please may I go stay with Grandpa and Toga-san, and go camping for a while? We were going to ask in a couple weeks, before… Daddy… But… This Kagome just _can't_ be anywhere where she remembers Daddy right now… It hurts too much, Mama.”

Her mama squeezed her hand, and Kagome obligingly stood up onto one of the chairs, wrapping her arms around her mama; as difficult as it was, with the baby-bump. “Don't worry, baby girl. Your mama understands – you need to be around pack and your alpha right now – he probably needs to be around you just as much; after all, you're his favourite pack member and you are hurting an awful lot right now.”

The cerulean eyed miko-in-training looked over at Sesshōmaru-sama, who simply looked amused, rather than upset, at the statement her mama had just made, and she said quietly, “But how can this Kagome be Toga-san's _favourite_ with Sesshōmaru-sama around? Sesshōmaru-sama is _family_ , this Kagome is not.”

The daiyōkai who looked like a less masculine (but still not feminine – not by any means) version of his father chuckled softly and combed his claws through her bangs. “You will understand as you grow older, pup. Come, now – this Sesshōmaru will take you to the shrine, and then come back to keep your mother company for the rest of the time it is necessary for her to be here.”

Kagome understood that Sesshōmaru-sama was going to _fly_ her to her new home, and then fly back, so her mama wasn't alone for very long – especially since Sesshōmaru-sama had  just taken down a barrier that Kagome hadn't even _felt_ go up, which meant nobody had heard what the plans were. So, now that they were “public” again, Sesshōmaru-sama said to her mama, “I will be taking Kagome-chan to her ride back to the shrine – it will not take long, please stay comfortable until I return.”

Sesshōmaru-sama managed to insinuate that he was handing her off to somebody else without even lying! Wow! Kagome hoped to be able to do stuff like that when she grew up! Her mama kissed her cheek; Kagome gave her a return kiss, and then stepped down from the chair, holding onto Sesshōmaru-sama's hand as they stepped outside, walked until they reached an alleyway, and then stepped into it, Sesshōmaru-sama picking her up gently. Light enfolded them and they shot upwards, flying towards the shrine faster than Kagome could even say “Wow!”

They were there in less than a minute, and Toga-san immediately took her from his son, nodding towards the slightly shorter male and softly saying, “Thank you, Sesshōmaru. All of her lessons are cancelled for five more days; please make arrangements for her school work to be held for her and delivered to her at the end of these five days, so that she has the weekend to catch up on what she missed, as well as switching her home-school to the one specifically for shrine children.”

Sesshōmaru-sama nodded back at his father and responded with an, “Of course, Father. Thank you for entrusting this Sesshōmaru with your pack member's education. I will allow Kagome-chan to complete her school work before beginning her other lessons once more. This Sesshōmaru hopes that you manage to enjoy your break and that your grieving period does not last very long, little Kagome-chan.”

Kagome looked solemnly up at Sesshōmaru-sama and nodded, “This Kagome didn't know _when_ it would happen, but she was warned that her daddy would be dying this year… And as much as she loved her daddy, ever since he met Toga-san he wasn't as close to Kagome… She thinks he didn't know how to deal with her being raised by someone who wasn't him, and who wasn't even ningen. I still miss him, but right now I hurt more for Mama and my baby brother who will never meet Daddy, although it'll be better once we're all living _here_ like we're supposed to be.”

Her alpha's son nodded to her and then left them alone, leading Kagome to tightly grip onto her alpha and sob silently into his kimono, while he growled to her; soft, comforting, _loving_ growls that let her know she would never be alone as long as he was around, and that he would _never_ leave her. Before she realised it, they were in a cave that had a futon, a fire, fish roasting over the fire and… There – a second futon with… Oh, Grandpa was there, too! Grandpa had trouble with crowds outside of shrine work so he hadn't gone to the funeral, instead just burning incense for Daddy as was proper. He smiled at her and when Toga-san settled down with her on the bigger futon, he came over and began rubbing her back gently while her alpha groomed her hair.

“Here, Kagome, while we do this, show me what you remember from your lessons on barriers; right from the beginning – but using _your_ ki instead of earth-ki.”

Kagome obeyed without questioning, because her alpha had not disagreed with her grandpa – Kagome might _only_ _ever_ obey her **alpha** without question, but if he didn't disagree with something someone else told her to do, Kagome did it, because that was as good as if Toga-san himself had ordered it. Not to mention, Kagome obeyed her grandpa and her lesson-sensei far easier than she obeyed most others.

The first kind of barrier Kagome did was the first kind she learned, channelling her miko-ki through her bones, then her muscles, then her veins, mixing it with her blood and with her reiki, and pushing it out of her skin – keeping it, for five minutes, hovering _just_ against her body, before exploding it outwards so that it made a sphere; one that, luckily, both of her yōkai pack members were immune to.

Then after five more minutes (Kagome had long ago learned to tell time using her instincts; she knew the time down to the second at all times, and knew so instantly – both modern time and camping time), she pulled the barrier back in, and shoved her reiki back into place where the miko-ki had been – Toga-san said she was getting better at keeping them both inside the same places at the same time, but right now she was only to work on barriers, not to work on allowing her reiki to make her body different at the same time as she did her barriers.

Next, she made a barrier like Grandpa taught her to do. Miko, monks, priests, and priestesses ( _not_ all priestesses were miko who could purify yōkai) couldn't channel their reiki, reiryoku, and hōriki through their blood, veins, and muscles like yōkai could their yōki – actually they probably could if they _tried_ , but none of them ever _tried_. Grandpa could be excused because he'd not known about how yōki worked, and he was getting much older now, but Kagome intended on informing every miko-sama, monk-sama, priest-sama, and priestess-sama that she met from now on how to more safely channel their energy through their body to make stronger, stabler barriers, that lasted longer and didn't make you so tired so fast.

_And_ how to pull up energy from the earth they walked on and the trees they sat against, because that was the  first kind of ki that baby yōkai learned to use, and just like a baby yōkai, when Kagome had been a baby her alpha had taught her what to do. Whenever she was outside at her park before it got paved over, she did what he taught her, and learned how to make herself have more energy than she already had – although, Kagome had an _awful_ lot in spite of most of it being sealed away like Toga-san told her it was, so she didn't have to worry about that so much. Toga-san said that using earth-ki made her other ki stronger the more she used it, so she was more powerful because of her use than she would be without using it so regularly.

Anyway, this was stupidly easy to do – all Kagome did was reach inside herself, pull the energy out, shove it past her skin, and make a sphere around her. When she finished, she was humming in a mixture of contentment – from the back rub and the grooming – and boredom, from the barrier being absurdly easy for the young girl. Because she learned the _right_ way to channel energy, the _yōkai_ way, all of the ningen things were super easy for her. She knew her grandpa was proud – but he was  smart and _more_ proud that she had mastered using her reiki and miko-ki like Toga-san and Sesshōmaru-sama used _their_ yōki, than he was proud at how easy Kagome was finding the basics of how ningen used their reiryoku, hōriki, and (very rarely) reiki. He'd already promised to teach her how to make sutra and ofuda to seal, protect, dispel, exorcise, and other various things. Her grandpa might be less powerful than she was (and losing power every year as he got older), but he was, as she had thought earlier, _really smart_.

By the time her alpha and her grandpa finished drilling her on using her miko-ki and her reiki, she was all tired out, and fell asleep cuddled close against Toga-san's chest, clutching tightly to him and having completely forgotten the reason she had sought them out to begin with – just as they intended.


	7. Chapter 7

At age thirteen, Higurashi Kagome was something of an anomaly to her classmates. She didn't watch television, read magazines, eat out at restaurants, go to the cinema, or even go to the _mall_ , unless she absolutely had to. She very rarely wore regular clothes unless she was out in public – school not counting as “public” since classes were _all_ held at Shinto shrines – instead preferring to wear beautiful kimono and yukata, and komageta instead of normal shoes. Needless to say, even though her classmates didn't know quite what to think of her, they, their parents, and the teachers all utterly adored her.

It wasn't even just because Kagome was very proper, well-mannered, and dressed like an old-fashioned (as in, like, the Feudal Era fashion) Lady of Quality, either. Because just about _everyone_ in her class knew that that girl had a set of _**lungs**_ on her, and if you pissed her off badly enough, your ears would be bleeding for an hour afterwards – and you'd be half-deaf for the rest of the day, and you may or may not have a scrambled brain with confusion because of the  words she used! Despite her appearance, no Lady actually _spoke_ like that, so it was always a shock if somebody _truly_ pissed her off.

None of the teachers, parents, or adults around her – excepting the man who she called Sesshōmaru (the man who, just a few of the students knew to be _the_ Taishō Sesshōmaru that owned _like half_ of Nihon, but the rest were—probably intentionally—blind of) seemed to know about her wild tongue, though, because she was such a sweetheart and a Lady around them. None of _them_ ever  actually pissed her off, after all, unlike the kids with whom she attended school at times. A set of about ten students all rotated out of their classes depending on where they were, what time of the year it was, and what class it was – these ten students were there this year, but it had been twelve last year, seven the year before, etc. There were only eight of them that Kagome had gone to school with since halfway through Kindergarten, and even those eight Kagome sometimes had trouble keeping her temper with. Although, admittedly, it tended to just be two of the group that repeatedly earned her ire.

However, her unmistakeable temper, intolerance for _any_ kind of favouritism ( especially directed towards her person, which meant that their teachers were all _very_ careful not to let it show… Not that it mattered. All her classmates knew that for one, Kagome could tell  anyhow, because Kagome could read people's hearts like they were the morning news, and for two, their classmate _hated_ the favouritism), and abhorrence of bullying made Kagome more approachable than her differences set her apart.

Especially when people found out she had a very varied sense of humour, _loved_ to listen to people, had an absolutely stunning singing voice (and knew songs from so many languages it was _dizzying_ ), could play the flute and the shamisen _very_ prettily indeed, and knew  loads of neat stuff – not just old-fashioned stuff, either.

Whenever anyone asked what Kagome-san (she refused to let her classmates call her Higurashi-san; insisting that they might not always agree on things, or be close to each other, but they were _still_ verydear friends to her) _did_ with all of her free time, she simply laughed and said that she didn't  have free time, because her grandpa and his friends were _very_ old-fashioned, and insisted that she learn a _lot_ more than she got taught in school.

That just confused pretty much everybody, even the teachers; her teachers all thought her a prodigy, which felt – and in her opinion distinctly _was –_ insulting to the teenager because she wasn't a _g_ _enius_ , dammit! She just worked very hard to do her best in absolutely _everythin_ _g_ that she did, so that she would make her alpha (and Most Important Person Forever And Ever) proud of her. It took a while, but finally one day Kagome got _sick_ of all the questions and went to her grandpa, determined to make her teachers and classmates _see_ that Kagome was a **very busy person**. One who was learning _Very Important Things_ , that meant she had almost _no free time,_ _whatsoever_!What little she had was spent reading or learning new songs, thank you very much, which was way more fun than eating out, going to films, watching television shows, or playing video games.

Of course, her classmates and teachers did _not_ need to know that she got lessons even in her dreams, which meant they would  probably come up with some more ridiculous theories – but she would have Toga (ever since she had turned ten, he refused to let her keep the -san any more) with her to help her come up with excuses. Then again; honesty really _was_ the best policy – she'd been in lessons of one sort or another practically since she was born – and officially so since she was three. That could explain a lot of it.

Right, time to get formal – this was a _big_ request, after all; they liked their privacy at their home. Even though they only had classes at the shrine once a fortnight (partly due to their distance compared to the other shrines, and partly because of judicious bribery in the way of donations from Sesshōmaru-kun, who, Kagome had learned was an absolute and total sweetheart, filled with love for his family; which he somehow considered her to be, despite _only_ being Toga's littlest pack-mate), Grandpa _still_ had difficulty dealing with it. The more people around him not related with his duty as the shrine priest, the more anxious and upset he got – Kagome was pretty sure he had social anxiety disorder, but was too kind to say that out loud. Mental health problems were stigmatised all over the world, unfortunately, despite how common they were.

He usually left the shrine to go visit a friend on class-days. Then again, they wouldn't be _in_ the shrine, if this worked – they'd be in the forest, and since Kagome would have time to prepare for it, she wouldn't even have to use up much of their supplies. In fact, Kagome wouldn't be using _any_ of their supplies except the traps. She had  plenty of allowance saved up that she could use to provide for this outing all on her own. Toga's eyes had shone with pride when she informed him of that fact, which made her heart flutter unsteadily in her chest.

“This Kagome has a request, honoured Grandfather.”

Grandpa blinked at that, nonplussed, before looking behind Kagome at Toga, who was _smirking, damn it all_ ; that meant he was most definitely not going to like this – but also that it was important to his beloved Kagome, and probably _needed_ to be done, as so often things did with her. “I'm listening, granddaughter.”

So far, so good. Kagome took in a deep breath, then let it out slowly, before inhaling more moderately the second time – doing that helped her not talk so fast that people had trouble understanding her; a problem she had when she was nervous, worried, upset, angry, or excited. “I'm having problems with my classmates and my teachers – not in a typically bad way, but in an incredibly frustrating, and worse, _distracting_ , manner. My sensei all have me as their favourite student – and you know how I feel about that, Grandpa! And my classmates are _always_ asking me what I do with my free time, and when I tell them that I don't  have any free time they either don't believe me, or speculate the most _absurd_ things, even though I've said  repeatedly that I have more lessons than just what I get in school! I'm completely and utterly sick and tired of all this _crap_ and really want to do something to make them all just **shut up** about it! Or at least talk about it _knowin_ _g_ the truth, instead of pretending they know things they have no clue about!”

Despite her precaution, the words had been rushing out of her mouth by the end of her speech, so it took her grandpa a little while to assimilate it all and then take it in. Then he sighed and tilted his head slightly, “So, what exactly do you wish to do to remedy this?”

Kagome sat perfectly still in spite of sitting seiza – most of her classmates couldn't sit seiza for more than a few minutes at a time without squirming and being uncomfortable, but one thing Kagome was inordinately proud of was that she could sit seiza for _hours_ without feeling the slightest bit uncomfortable – and smiled at her beloved grandpa. “I would like to invite my immediate class – none of the others in my grade, or any of the students who regularly switch out; only the eight who always share  every class with me – and our four teachers, to go camping in the forest behind the shrine; suitably far back that we won't directly disturb you, but close enough that my _more important_ sensei can all come to the clearing I have in mind and give me my lessons there, in front of my school teachers and classmates.”

Before her grandfather could say anything in response, Toga spoke up, his voice filled to the _brim_ with pride. “Our beautiful little Kagome intends on using up a portion of her saved allowance to provide  all of the supplies, and to set traps for fresh meat and fish the day before they get here.”

The thirteen year old blushed at how obviously and blatantly proud her alpha was of her plan (omigosh he called her _beautiful_! Maybe Kagome _did_ have a chance after all, like that feeling deep in her heart kept insisting she did even though her mind sometimes couldn't  believe it, because Toga was just so _perfect,_ _Kami_ ), and smiled a quiet, happy smile to herself – one that her grandpa saw and almost smirked at. He had no doubt that his granddaughter had completely fallen for her alpha as sure as her alpha had fallen for her twice over; and, now that she was getting older, that her alpha was most definitely on – more like barrelling down – his third trip down that road. “You may do this thing, Kagome – but on one condition.”

She bounced, ever so slightly, before settling herself back down and chirping out, “Yes, Grandpa, what must this Kagome do?”

“I want Toga supervising this trip; I do not know your school teachers very well, after all. This will also be a bit of a test – I know very well that you can use your reiki to conceal his presence; but this time you are going to keep him solid and opaque for the entirety of the time this is going on. Of course, because he is not related to you and others would find it amiss for you to have an adult male sharing your tent, he will have to be in canine form, excepting when he is being your bow-sensei. Do you think you can do this for me, Kagome?”

Kagome nodded intently, “Definitely, Grandpa! This Kagome will not let you or Toga down. It'll be a little weird sleeping with Toga as a dog again, but I definitely won't need a blanket, because Toga is _super_ fluffy!”

Despite the huff she heard behind her, Kagome knew that her alpha was grinning; the fact that she loved his canine form ( _especially_ his enormous, full-sized version, oh _Kami_ it made her want to bury herself in his fur and sleep on him and/or snuggle him  forever) made Toga _incredibly_ pleased with her. Even more so when she told him that she liked him  better because his real self was _that_ , instead of his (oh-so-incredibly handsome) humanoid form.

Kagome didn't hate ningen as a whole any more (that had been very silly of her to ever do, but she had been a child, and even the smartest children saw the world largely in black and white, instead of shades of grey like it really was), but she still disliked most of their _actions_ , and wished they could live alongside the land like yōkai traditionally did (and even in modern days still tried to do – a hugeamount of the nature preserves and national parks all over the world were owned and created by yōkai – the very land she lived on was owned by Sesshōmaru-kun, after all, and it wasn't the only land he owned like this, either).

The mature-for-her-age girl knew that part of the reason she was being given so many lessons and taught so many things was because Kagome had a destiny to fulfil, and from what little Toga had told her about it, it could very well mean _chan_ _g_ _in_ _g_ the future from what it was now into something better. Kagome knew that her alpha only had a vague idea of what would happen – but that he definitely had  plans, involving _her_ , and she was ever so incredibly happy to be trusted so much.

Their conversation was over now, though, so Kagome walked to her bedroom, Toga at her side as they reclined on her bed. “Okay, so! First thing's first, I need to ask all my sensei if they mind having an audience, and scheduling the ones that _do_ mind so that their lessons are away from my class. Second, I need to ask my school teachers if they think the trip could be a good learning experience – if I phrase it like that they'll probably do it, 'specially since _I_ am the one asking— **ugh**. Then once I have  their permission I need to invite the eight regulars… and _then_ I need to go shopping.

“Let's see… Eight students and four teachers, two students and one teacher to a tent; excluding me, of course, since I'll have you. So I'll need four additional tents – and since I only have about four dowels for roasting meat on, and I am _way_ too lazy to go search out straight enough sticks for all the meat I'll be cooking, that means I have to buy more of those. I'll also need a bag of rice, a _medium_ cast-iron pot – I can make a couple of stews – and a _large_ cast-iron pot for the rice. Wooden bowls, spoons, and chopsticks – won't need knives, since you taught me how to make all my meat _that_ tender. Besides; I do _not_ trust a group of pre-teens with sharp implements. Especially if some of the guys start fighting over the girls  again.”

Kagome rolled her eyes with a frustrated huff. “Children, the lot of them. I don't understand why _any_ of the girls are interested in those  boys. They are insufferable braggarts, rude, annoying, and vain. Don't get me wrong – they aren't too bad when they're _only_ being friendly; but the past couple months they have mostly stopped _only_ being friendly and are becoming ever so much more annoying… Bleh, sorry for ranting at you Toga. Let me go get this started and call up my important sensei so I can call up my school teachers, and  then call up my classmates… Sigh. Work is never done. Oh well, I'd rather be busy than bored!”

With that she dashed off, leaving behind a widely grinning Toga. His little bird was growing up _so_ beautifully – and was  definitely attracted to him. If he hadn't taught her how to keep her composure, she would be flustered and blushing practically every time he touched her. Of course, Kagome was, physically, still a little too young for a relationship – he was waiting on her trip through the well (actually, depending on her feelings, he would wait as long as she needed; Kagome was _so_ very yōkai, though, that he didn't think she would want to wait once he felt she was old enough) to actually mate her – but… Soon, he'd tell her about their (tentative – but seeing as it depended entirely on _her_ feelings, practically guaranteed) betrothal.

Maybe next year, when she turned fourteen… He would tell her, already – but he wasn't sure how far the attraction went, and refused to scare her off if it was only shallow yet. That would give her more time to be sure of her feelings – right now they might be simple attraction without much more than admiration, instead of love. Despite being raised yōkai, she _was_ still born a ningen.

Unbeknownst to poor, unaware Toga, up in the heavens, Amaterasu-sama and Her comrades were busy laughing so hard that They could barely breathe. That poor daiyōkai didn't have a _chance…_ Or a _choice_ , either. His little mate-to-be knew herself far too well because of his training her to never lie to herself and to trust and translate her instincts; and would soon have the incentive to officially declare herself, as well.

Oh, what fun it would be!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:**  For those of you who read Wandering Ways: the tea ceremony in this chapter is barely touched on, unlike the one in that fic; this is because to  _this_  version of Kagome, tea ceremonies are nothing unusual. Unlike that other Kagome, who only learned in her late teens, this one grew up learning and performing them. So it won't be tedious or very descriptive. Yay for those of you who found it annoying/boring, my apologies to those of you who enjoyed all that crazy description. Unfortunately, my characters control themselves. As with previous chapters, definitions are at the end, so if you get confused just scroll down and see for yourself.

\- - -

Tents; check!

Sleeping bags; check!

Fire pit; check!

Firewood; check!

Kindling; check!

Flint and steel; check!

Dowels; check!

Cast iron pots; check!

Fresh meat; check! (In part, anyhow, she'd need more for dinner.)

Vegetables; check!

Rice; check!

Tea set so that she could practise her chabako temae tea ceremony for Sesshōmaru-kun; check! (Kagome was  _excited_  for this – she had performed all the other tea ceremonies for not only Sesshōmaru-kun but also for many of the guests that visited her grandpa, Sesshōmaru-kun, and Toga, but this was the first time she would be using the chabako temae tea set that was meant for preparing tea outdoors with anyone except Toga. Especially because it was furo season and she intended on doing a chaji ceremony; no simple chakai with only the thin usucha, she would be making her good friend the thick koicha. Well, it wasn't as big of a difference with her though because Kagome  _refused_  to use lesser-quality tea for her usucha as was normal, she only used the finest quality she could for the situation, full stop, because to her doing otherwise was rude. Toga was unsure of where she had gained this attitude, but heartily approved of it despite the expense.)

Empty, flat, and wide space in the clearing for her lessons; check!

Longbow, hunting bow, daggers (yōkai bone  _and_ steel), katana (ditto), wakizashi (and ditto yet again), flute, and shamisen; check!

Targets (for her daggers and her arrows); check!

Toga; currently  _lickin_ _g_ _her face_ , which definitely counted as a  **check**!

Grumbling, Kagome giggled and shoved her alpha off of her, before rolling onto his back and rubbing her kind-of wet face into his fur, then kissing between his ears ( _don't think about how he can't notice_ ) and standing up with a stretch, the sleeves of her light grey yukata falling to her elbows momentarily. "They'll be here soon; I'm not so mean as to make them set tents up for what is likely their first time ever camping, which is why I've already gotten them set up. They'll be here for three days – they get to see  _all_  my lessons except my reiki and miko-ki lessons; they don't need to see those. I'm  _so_  glad my sensei all agreed that since I'm not having traditional school lessons these days they would double up on my  _other_ lessons, so that I can show off what I go through in less time.

"Oh, and, I kept this a secret from you, but it won't do for you to be surprised when I bring it out for Sesshōmaru-kun – I brought along my chabako so I can do chabako temae for Sesshōmaru-kun since we're outdoors; it's the only one I haven't performed for him yet, and while I definitely prefer doing tea ceremonies for you, you can't exactly  _drink_  my tea—even if you can taste it—it just flows right through you. I absolutely cannot  _wait_ until I can perform a tea ceremony for you and you can drink my tea for  _real_."

Kagome was  _way_ _beyond_  the level with her miko powers where she could understand beast yōkai that weren't in (or didn't have) humanoid forms – as shown by her crow friend Kei, she could even understand intelligent  _animals_  if they'd been exposed to ki other than just reiki and earth-ki for most of their lives, although she'd been able to do  _that_  since she was practically still a baby; especially if they had levels of telepathy, which most of them  _did_  – so Toga responded to her easily. " _Chaji or chakai_ _?_ "

"Chaji, despite us being camping I insist on making both koicha and usucha," she responded, as she began building up the kindling so that a fire would be easier to light with the flint and steel she had with her – no matches or lighters  _here_ , Toga forbade them – then she continued, "I really want to impress Sesshōmaru-kun with how well I can do a tea ceremony both outside  _and_  in front of an audience. So I'm using my best quality matcha even though camping outdoors means less formal, and even though I might mess up – you never get anywhere without making mistakes, after all. That was the first true lesson you taught me, after I was inu enough for you to begin teaching me other things."

Her beloved alpha smiled fondly at her despite his canine muzzle, " _You remembered; I am so proud of you, my precious little bird. Also; I do hope these boys in your class are easily intimidated, or your numerous talents are likely to have them falling all over their feet to be with you._ "

Blue eyes darkened to an almost midnight colour in pure pleasure from such a strong compliment, and even the composure he had drilled into her was not enough to keep Kagome from blushing, so she turned away with a squeak, "T-toga! Don't say things like that! Not in the least because you probably just jinxed the whole trip!"

Then she grumbled lowly – not quiet enough for him to not hear her, but quiet in a way that meant she was making a  _very_  serious threat. "If even one of them tries anything like what I know a couple of them are capable of, they will  _more_  than regret it. You are the only person I will  **ever**  willingly submit myself to with any semblance of regularity."

Toga was simultaneously deliriously happy – that was  _as_ _g_ _ood as_  a love confession, coming from his feisty little bird – and inordinately proud. Not just of his Kagome, but of  _himself_. He'd been  _ **so**_  worried, in the beginning, that he wouldn't be able to teach her everything she  _needed_  to learn for her quest and her position as his Lady, while still having her keep that indomitable will and fiery spirit. Yes, Kagome rarely ever actually fought with or against Toga himself – but an enormous part of that was simply that they were almost disturbingly well-suited for each other; he could count the number of disagreements they'd had in her entire life on  _one_  hand, and all of those had been quite minor and patched up easily. The one time he questioned Omoikane-sama and Amaterasu-sama about it, They laughingly told him that that was just how soul-mates  _were_ ; they fit together, added depth to each other, and matched.

It certainly made him feel less guilty about having basically  _g_ _roomed_  her for the position of the Lady mate of a daiyōkai Lord. Yes, yōkai did that sort of thing  _constantly_ , it was just part of their culture, but even though she acted it – and had acted it in her "previous life," even – Kagome was not  _actually_  yōkai. She was still born a ningen; Shikon no Tama trapped inside of her body or no.

Though, several of the Kami had all but told him straight to his face that being born with the cursed jewel inside of her body had  _chan_ _g_ _ed_  her from being ningen to being  _more_  than ningen in all the important ways.

His attention was caught as a group of twelve people were led into the clearing by Daisuke, who promptly left them with a quiet, "Have fun."

Kagome was on top of things immediately. "Okay, because my grandpa is very strict, and because I am a proper and true shrine maiden and miko, not just a shrine child, I am sharing my tent with our guard dog instead of any of you guys. The rest of you, split up into four groups of two; it really doesn't matter who is with who – the tents sleep  _four_  people. There will be a teacher in each tent with two students in it, and since there are only five tents, one of which is mine… have fun figuring out where you're going to sleep! I have to go gather some more firewood so that I'm not stuck trying to juggle a torch and the wood simultaneously later on tonight. Be right back!"

Toga followed her, allowing her to tie a large load of wood to his back as she carried a pile underneath each arm (her camping yukata and kimono were all yōkai-made; no need to worry about tears or splinters, there), and they walked back to camp in companionable silence, Kagome humming softly.

_Everyone_  seemed incredibly shocked to see how much wood Kagome was carrying, but she laid it down in an orderly fashion, then used the steel and flint to start a fire with the kindling she had already prepared – once it had caught well enough, she methodically placed the wood atop it so that it would burn evenly, then waved at the group again, "I have to fetch some water to heat up the rice with; I cheated and used some slightly undercooked rice for this trip, since I'm doing all six days – well actually, seven, but one of my teachers does not wish to do his lessons in front of a group, so those lessons are being skipped – of lessons in just three days. Keep in mind; these are just the  _physical_  lessons. I'm learning a lot more on the mental front than what I learn in school; especially when it comes to politics. I also get extensive lessons in surviving on my own in the wild. You'd be bored during that lesson so we're skipping it, too – they just make me get lost and navigate back to camp when it's a short lesson and not a weekend lesson.

"Anyhow! Water for the rice, and then I have to check my traps, there should be lots of rabbit out this time of year – if there is, I'll roast a few for dinner. Tomorrow we're having boar stew – there's a mean guy out this season and I need to cull him; we don't want that attitude being bred into more of our population. Be back in a bit!"

The conversation that those ningen were having was utterly  _hilarious_  – apparently they had never once thought that maybe Kagome had been completely honest about not having any free time and taking so many lessons outside of school.

These were going to be a fun few days.

\- - -

Kagome ran towards Sesshōmaru-sensei, slashing her katana towards his side in a feint, then stabbing forward with her wakizashi – he just  _barely_  dodged that, and that fact coaxed a full out laugh from him as he bowed towards her, "Well  _done_ , Kagome! That is the closest you have yet come to cutting me, and if you had been using your full speed," meaning, of course, if she had been using her body to its natural extent instead of holding herself back so that the ningen watching could actually  _see_  what was going on, "you undoubtedly would have gotten me that time. Now; Toga says you have a new tea ceremony to perform for me? I assume that since you have – repeatedly – performed all of the others, you are intending on chabako temae?"

"Yes, Sesshōmaru-sensei, and thank you for your kind words. This Kagome will be serving you koicha and usucha both despite to the constraints, rather than doing a chakai with usucha alone, because this Kagome wishes to do Toga-sensei proud."

Her alpha rumbled in an amused manner – in his humanoid form now, and being kept looking completely solid by her reiki; this would be a  _challenge_ , but Kagome knew she could do it. She  _really_  wanted to make her beloved, wonderful,  _perfect_ alpha proud. "Please; I ceased teaching you tea ceremonies years ago, little bird, stop with the -sensei. You are no longer my student in this matter, instead you are a master, yourself."

Sesshōmaru-kun inclined his head forwards as she pulled out her chabako box and began unpacking it how she was taught, methodically going through the comforting ritual that she was so used to by now, as her sword-sensei responded, "Agreed – we are not in lesson any more, Kagome, there is no need for -sensei – and if you forget and revert to -sama like you called this Sesshōmaru when you were but a child, he will have to flick your ear; or better yet, sic your alpha on you."

The jibe made Kagome smile softly, relaxing just a bit more – she wasn't actually nervous, but the banter made her happy. "Somehow this Kagome does not think that siccing Toga on her would be conducive to this Kagome learning a lesson, as we both enjoy playing chase and tag far too much for our own good."

Toga growled playfully, leering at her in a way that, had she seen it, would have made her turn as red as a cranberry, training and composure or no, "Watch what you're saying, little one – you know that chase and tag are training games and  _other_  things; not just fun – or does this Toga need to remind you of that, songbird?"

This was what her life should be like – feeling utterly treasured, loved, confident, and happy. She didn't even  _remember_  that she had a twelve person audience any more; especially since it was her last day of having them  _intrudin_ _g_  in her forest. "Of course not, alpha – this Kagome was just stating that she, at least, finds chase and tag to be so much fun that the purpose of any lesson meant to be learned by siccing you on her would end up not being learned."

He laughed that stunning laugh of his, just as she finished folding the koicha, handing the ceramic chawan to Sesshōmaru-kun for him to taste, keeping her head bowed in respect, but peeking up at him through her bangs. He hummed in delight as he tasted it, giving her a genuine smile, "Perfect, as your tea  _always_  is, Kagome. Truly, you are as much a Lady as you are a Warrior, and you do your family – and your  _pack_  – proud."

Kagome clasped a hand over her mouth to hold back a squeal of happiness while Sesshōmaru-kun finished his tea – and then, that little jinx Toga had created at the beginning of this outing kicked in. Their Divine audience was most eager to see  _this_.

" _You_ , Higurashi Kagome, are going to be my wife."

Toga blinked at that, and Sesshōmaru turned to him, actively smirking in a wicked manner that immediately made his father wary, as he placed down the chawan he had been drinking from and whispered – low enough that his fuming Kagome could not hear, "You, Father, are about to need your ears cleaned out, because this Sesshōmaru knows  _exactly_  what a filthy mouth your mate-to-be has when she is truly and properly infuriated –  _even_  without being around the hanyō and despite him never influencing her into crude language in the first place. This Sesshōmaru suspects it is influence from the adult novels we began allowing her to read at ten due to her reading level and maturity being so beyond what was her age range. She has actively kept you from finding out, not because of shame but because she feels that these ningen are not worthy of her composure, unlike you and those you have her meet."

Toga blinked, again, and his eyes widened as a tone he had  _never_  heard from his little bird escaped her mouth in an angry hiss, and she stood up, barely holding in her reiki and miko-ki. He had not even known that Kagome could  _get_  this angry! Sure; the Kagome dealing with Inuyasha and numerous other fools, but his little one? Well, apparently he truly hadn't changed her that much in that way, after all, but still...

Then he recalled what that arrogant little  _boy_  had said, and resolved to simply enjoy the show. He still loved her more than anything on earth, after all. Hell, this really just made her even  _better_  for him. Toga was well aware that how laid-back he was often tricked people into thinking they could walk all over him – having a mate who was not so laid back and had such a temper would make them think twice about that little deception of his, especially if he never held her back unless it was truly necessary.

" **What. Did. You. Just. Say. Ryuu. Ken'ichi?!** "

The rest of the students – and even the  _teachers_  – had the sense to step away and to the side, but the foolish boy stood his ground and smirked vainly, "I said, that you, Higurashi Kagome, are going to be my bride. You are perfect, I want you, and I  _always_  get what I want. Deal with it."

That tore it, and out came the lungs – and the language. "How  **dare**  you! I don't  ** _fucking_ _think so_** , you  _stupid, thick-headed, brainless, pompous, vain,_ _insipid,_ _miso_ _g_ _ynistic, dictionary definition of a_ _presumptuous,_ _conceited  _ ** _asshole_**! I would not come near you with a ten metre pole if you were the  _last_  fucking person in existence in  _any_  universe! You are scum and not even worthy to be walked upon! And, for  _your_  information, and the information of  _everyone else here_ : the  **only**  person I will  ** _ever_**  marry is my alpha, Toga, who also happens to be the  **only**  person I will  ** _ever_** willingly submit to, and the  **only** person I will  ** _ever_**   _love_ with  _all my heart_. Anybody who thinks otherwise or tries to convince me otherwise can go  ** _rot in hell_**."

Toga was completely, utterly gobsmacked – talk about a  _confession_ , holy shit; so much for waiting until she was fourteen – and he could  _hear_ Amaterasu-sama and many other Kami laughing,  _remember_  that conversation She made him forget, and on  _top_  of that, his son was holding back laughter, and whispering to him, "Count backwards from ten, father. Your little mate is absolutely hilarious."

Reluctantly, he did as his son said, and as soon as he reached "zero", his precious, adorable, and completely  _frightening_  Kagome flushed redder than he had ever seen anyone go before, squeaked, covered her mouth, and ran over to him, kneeling on the ground beside him and burying her face in his lap. Sesshōmaru stood up, cleared his throat, and directed everybody  _out_  of the clearing, so his father and eventual stepmother could get the aftermath of her outstandingly stunning confession over with in private.

\- - -

Translations:

Chabako temae – outdoors ritual tea ceremony. A chabako is the box in which a portable tea set is held.

Chaji – a full tea ceremony in which two kinds of tea are served.

Chakai – a simplified tea ceremony in which only thin tea is served.

Usucha – thin tea. Usually lesser quality than thick tea.

Koicha – thick tea. Usually higher quality than thin tea.

Furo – the warm season that takes up half the year, from May to October. The cool season from November to April is called "ro".


	9. Chapter 9

Kagome was near tears by the time she managed to get her apology out – _never_ had she left all of her manners behind in such a way; although she had _definitely_ lost her temper during school before. She cussed plenty, and only when she used her language incredibly creatively did she become embarrassed with her lack of composure to he point of flushing. It had just never happened near her family or pack (that she was aware of – Sesshōmaru had happened to witness her outbursts on more than one occasion when picking her up from shrines), and she was so utterly _ashamed_ – but simultaneously she did not regret a _sin_ _g_ _le_ _word_ because she **refused** to let  anyone aside from Toga claim her or dominate her in _any_ _way_ _whatsoever_! “P-please forgive this Kagome for completely abandoning her manners and using such foul language, Toga-sama…”

Not for the first time, Toga pulled her into his lap and rested his chin atop her head, growling comfortingly to her, “Drop the suffix, Kagome. There is no need to apologise, little one. That boy had no right to claim you and order you to obey him, koishi, and while your reaction might have been overboard – how many people have I ever asked you to submit yourself to, little one?”

She sniffled softly, burying her face in his kimono – beyond glad that he could touch and hold her, even though he was still semi-transparent and only half solid, and even though she was the only one to benefit from such touch ( _cut that thought out, it_ _hurts_ _to know that_ ). “N-nobody but yourself, Toga… B-but still, you taught this Kagome better than to use crude language like that, and better to lash out like that, too! And she has to admit that it has happened before now, just never around pack or family…”

“As to your second comment, it really doesn't matter so long as you have the ability to keep your composure when necessary, and in the past you have many times proven you do. As to your protest of your behaviour, this Toga taught you better than that, but that only matters for when you are confronted with any situation that is even somewhat reasonable. Since when is a thirteen year old boy ordering you to marry him, telling you you have no choice in the matter, and telling you to “deal with it” because he always gets what he wants, a reasonable situation?”

Her voice was tentative when she answered, despite knowing the answer damn well. “W-well… never?”

“Especially when he didn't even _think_ to ask if you were already betrothed or promised to someone else, or if your family actually needed his family's money enough to simply follow his whims?”

“Oh, it isn't just _that_ ; he was threatening to take our home from us. His father does that to people who cross him.”

Toga wrinkled his nose; that was beyond despicable. He would have Sesshōmaru take care of that little situation, whilst he took care of the foolish boy via a well-worded letter. “Kagome, I promise you; I am not angry, I am proud of you for standing up for yourself so strongly, _even_ with the language you used – and I must admit, your final little declaration pleased me immensely, considering that on your next birthday I was going to ask you if the tentative betrothal that had been arranged between us was something you would be willing to go through with.”

Cerulean eyes widened and the young miko gasped, pulling back to searchingly stare into her alpha's face, looking for any sign of deception. Scent was strongly accurate, but anybody developed enough could find ways to cheat that fact – not to mention that as he had no physical form, Toga had no scent.

All she found was immense, intense, unfathomably deep love, and she immediately clung to him, sobbing happily. “Y-you really w-want me!”

He murmured nonsense into her ears until the tears stopped – aided by comforting, love-filled growls, his clawed fingers stroking through her hair. “You are my soul mate, koishi – my perfect match, just as I am yours. The entire story is convoluted, and you will learn it when you are older, but I came into your life for the sole purpose of making you my mate once you were old enough – assuming, of course, you were willing, for I will only have you if you want me. And not until after I have a physical body again – and you are grown a bit more. You are definitely mature beyond your years, especially because I am not using your ningen years, I am judging your readiness by how old you are mentally as a yōkai, but you still have some growing to do, both physically and mentally – growth that I am immensely looking forward to.”

Kagome smiled happily at the person she loved more than _anything_ , and nodded to him, “I want to wait too, for the same reasons. I love you, but I know that at least a small part of it is still just a child's love for her alpha – I want to be able to love you completely and wholly as a _woman_ when you mate me. I know that when you were raised I _would_ be a woman already, but I don't feel like one yet – I think I'll be  more than ready by the time I meet you through the well, though.”

He licked and kissed the tears away from her cheeks and nodded, “Even when I was raised, I thought anything younger than fourteen was a bit young for marriage. If you weren't so emotionally and mentally mature I would insist on waiting until you were sixteen or seventeen, nearer to the end of your puberty; but I honestly don't believe either of us could wait that long. Besides, like I said – I'm not going by your ningen age; I'm going by your yōkai maturity, and if you were a yōkai you would already be almost out of your teens.”

She giggled at that and stuck her tongue out at him playfully, “That is _entirely_ your fault, and you know it; damn well, too. You're the one who raised me, after all. And – hey, didn't Sesshōmaru-kun raise Rin-chan, too? Is this some weird yōkai fetish, marrying your daughters?”

Kagome was fully and definitely joking, but Toga still choked, before laughing helplessly. “Rin was the first and only person to ever love Sesshōmaru unconditionally for who he was and disregarding his power and position and wealth. As for me… I knew you, as a teenager and into adulthood, almost five centuries before you were born. I fell in love with you first then – twice, in fact. The Kami wanted your fate to change and I happened to be the one who could change it; and believe you me, I resisted at first – I loved you as I grew to know you, I didn't want to _change_ what I loved about you… But the Kami informed me, and correctly, that helping raise you would only magnify the things I loved about you, and give you even more things for me to love. It _is_ weird, though – one minute thinking of you as not-blood-pack and then suddenly you're all grown up and that innocent love is romantic instead.”

Kagome hummed and nodded, then stood up, grabbing Toga's hand, “Let's go find the others so that I can _properly_ threaten Ryuu Ken'ichi this time, because I know Sesshōmaru-kun enough to know that he wouldn't  dare take that joy away from me.”

The group hadn't gone too far, and they were all completely silent – every head turning towards Toga and Kagome as they entered the clearing, chattering happily about commonplaces. Ryuu Ken'ichi was a spoilt brat, who always got what he wanted – and he was, very falsely, assuming that it would happen again this time – so Kagome would be a Lady now, and show him how wrong he was, without once raising her voice or cussing.

Which meant that when he walked up to her and made to grab her, she slapped him, only pulling in her strength that had, by now, been permanently enhanced to daiyōkai standards, by about half.

It looked like she had barely touched him, but her hand-print was red as day, and darkening to an ugly purple. “You, Ryuu Ken'ichi, are a spoilt little boy, who always gets what he wants from his daddy, and so assumes that this trend will continue. Let me inform you of some things, Ryuu. First off, you are no longer allowed to call me Kagome – every time you do, I will slap you, and believe me, what I just gave you was _nothing_ compared to what I can do. I was holding back. Along with that, as you can clearly tell, no longer will I be calling you by your first name, or with any suffixes. You have clearly proven undeserving of anything else to me this day, what with your presumptuous and demanding attitude, as well as your complete disrespect of my person.

“Secondly, that man over there, to whom I served tea less than an hour ago? You don't seem to be able to recognise his face, but maybe you will recognise his name – he is my _very_ dear friend Taishō Sesshōmaru. Not only is he a personal friend, but he owns the land on which I have lived for the majority of my life, meaning you can not threaten my family into selling me to you as if I were some object by stealing our shrine from us. As well, I have been betrothed since I was three to Taishō Toga, my best friend, alpha, and soul-mate. I am very much looking forwards to reading the letter he is going to be writing your father about your conduct towards me today.

“I do not expect you will be in this class for much longer, so enjoy it while you can, and, if you know what is best for you, _do_ stay away from me. I wouldn't want you to antagonise me into hurting you again, after all – and I am more than certain that everyone here will agree that you _absolutely_ deserved that slap, for attempting to manhandle me, despite having told you that I already belonged to someone else. You know what, actually, for attempting to grab hold of me, full stop – people are not objects to be possessed, something which you sorely need to learn.”

As soon as he heard Sesshōmaru's full name, the boy who had attempted to assault her person – and who had so rudely laid a claim on her without her permission – blanched, turning so pale that it looked as if he had blood loss. As Kagome continued to speak, her voice even, level, and deathly soft, as well as impeccably polite, formal, and well-mannered – an enormous difference from the tantrum she had thrown earlier – she showed her true breeding, and the boy began to turn red, until he resembled a rather ugly tomato; for all that he wasn't truly bad looking, normally. His personality, apparently, was rather horrid and lacking in any depth, though.

Despite that, even _he_ could realise that Kagome was  beyond out of his league, after her speech.

After he skulked off, nursing his cheek, one of the girls she was – kind of – friends with (okay, they were her friends, truly, but it was all shallow friendships as they had very little in common) asked her softly, “Why do you keep calling Toga-sama your alpha? Isn't that an ōkami thing?”

Kagome smiled at her and sat on the ground, her legs crossed and leaning against her betrothed's calf. No need to mention it was also an inu “thing”, but she could tell the outwards reasons why. “Because Toga is the only person that I will ever submit to unquestioningly. Not even my family has ever had the sort of power over me that he has, and they all know it. He never asks anything of me that is either not for my personal gain or benefit, or for my protection. He knows that he can order me around and I will obey him without fail, but he _never_ does so, unless it is a truly serious or life-threatening situation. Our situation is a little bit weird, because as his betrothed, I had to know specific sorts of things.

“Toga has, and has always had, full control of every aspect of my education outside of school – it's wonderful having a fiancée who not only allows, but actively encourages, me to fight and defend myself; simultaneously along with teaching me the soft things, like the beauty of a flute, or the relaxation of a tea ceremony. Despite controlling my education, though, Toga encouraged me to be myself and develop into who I was meant to be – he doesn't want some perfect little court bloom who will say pretty things and never mean a word she says; air-headed and empty of true, honest love. I have loved Toga for my entire life, even though it is only in the last year that that love changed into something romantic – we are both looking forward to watching it grow even more before we wed.”

They wouldn't really be _wedding_ , they would be _mating_ , but nobody here needed to know that.

Nor did anybody in her class need to know that Toga, instead of being in his mid-twenties like he looked, was over two millennia old – Kagome wasn't sure exactly how old he was, and was not going to ask. Seriously, Sesshōmaru-kun, his own son, looked older than he did! At least right now, anyway; Toga told her that when she first met him in the past he looked – and acted – only a few years older than her, although that rapidly changed, and since she was mentally _way_ more than a few years older than she was physically… Well, she suspected she'd end up mothering the stoic yōkai, much to the amusement and/or annoyance of everyone present at the time.

That… Was going to be _so_ fun – especially once they reached the year that she stopped coming through the well in _this_ universe and Sesshōmaru-kun gained his memories back.

Being surrogate mother, student, and surrogate niece/good friend all at once was bound to be _hilarious_. Hopefully, by then, though, the “good friend” would be what was in place, with a strong hint of mothering but not constantly present mothering. That was what Kagome wanted for her beloved Sesshōmaru-kun, who taught her and bought her things, and was so kind to her. He was family – and he was pack.

Oh, and _now_ Kagome knew why Sesshōmaru-kun had not had  any problem being a less favourite pack member than Kagome was, all those years ago when she had questioned her mother's comment. That was probably a _Very Good Thing_.

Plus, Toga had told her _so many stories_ of what the Sengoku Jidai was like. Lush green pastures. yōkai _everywhere_ in all their full glory with no hiding, war, famine, disease, shiros that were completely magnificent. Being a Lord meaning that you only spent a small time at your shiro – if you were a _good_ Lord, you patrolled your lands, looking for trouble, killing and/or fixing it, living totally in the wilds except for when you wanted to pamper yourself and stayed in a village, using onsen, waterfalls, streams, lakes, and cold springs for bathing _constantly_.

Kagome didn't mind showers, or baths, truly she didn't...

But they had an onsen in a cave in the mountain, and Kagome had to admit that she would rather live in the cave than she did her house – and use that onsen _constantly_ … Especially when Toga had gotten Sesshōmaru-kun to buy her yōkai-made soaps and shampoos that left no residue in the water – they were infused with yōki and special magic that made them completely diffuse so that the water wasn't ruined like modern-day soaps and shampoos did. _And_ that he knew how to _make_ onsen.

Kagome _really_ couldn't wait until she hit fifteen. Especially because it meant she would _finally_ be living where she  belonged. Kagome had completely _literally_ been raised as if she were living in the Sengoku Jidai – home-schooled in shrines, _living_ on a shrine, right next to a massive forest that she regularly stayed out in, explored, and slept in, being taught traditional self-defence, and almost never going to the city – as well as almost never wearing modern clothes, either. Her nights were spent _in_ the place where Toga used to rule, his magnificent old shiro, and he taught her about politics, how to be a good ruler, how to address people, different ceremonies, how to welcome guests, and so many other Important Things that it was rather dizzying – or rather it _should_ have been but since Kagome was _raised_ learning these things it just felt _natural_.

She would come visit, because otherwise she would miss her mama, grandpa, and little brother… but the day she turned fifteen she was going _home_ for the first time in her life.

\- - -

Translation:

Koishi – beloved

Ōkami – wolf/wolves

Shiro – castle

Onsen – hot springs


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N 1:** Omg you guys I am so, so terribly sorry about my long absence. First my mother needed her laptop, then my sleep schedule was so royally screwed that I was unable to function at all, and then she needed her laptop again just as I got some medicine in that helped level things out so I could do stuff again. I got it back yesterday but I am fairly sick, so I decided I would rest a day and keep to my schedule. Thank you for your patience. On with the show!

**A/N 2:** Honestly I totally agree with Kagome’s reaction here, I think it’s overkill – you will know when you read it – but they insisted and I tried rewriting it five times before giving up. Toga is just an overprotective inu. Sesshōmaru is too but Toga is worse. XD

\- - -

Higurashi Kagome was fourteen when she got the four best gifts in her _life_. (Well – up until that point, anyway.)

Well, more, really. But one of them was kind-of-three at the same time, and one of them was two at the same time.

The first one – the one that was kind-of-three – was _yōkai weapons_. All of them—even the ones that weren't made to have _attacks_ —could channel her miko-ki, even her bows – yes, bows, _plural_. Kagome saw the lot of weapons, threw her hands up in the air, and told the two yōkai in her pack that this was _overkill_ , and they'd lost their minds. Her pack-mates had bothsmirked at her and Toga told her that she needed to be able to protect herself as best as she could, and besides, wrapping a cloth around the weapon would negate protections to keep them from being stolen from her – backups were necessary. She gave up for then, but she would _remember_ this  insanity. And get them back for it, somehow. Maybe she could, like, purify their _hair_ off? No – she liked it too much. _Damn_.

The longbow was _really super crazy special_ –  Sesshōmaru-kunhad it made for her with one of his fangs, and it was the first ever yōkai weapon he had made for someone else, and it was _poisonous_. Its name was Kodokuso, which meant anti-venom, which was kind of ironic, but considering it was a toxic protection for her, it surprisingly fit. Kagome didn't know exactly how that whole “poisonous” attribute actually worked, especially because she usually just used her miko-ki to form arrows for her longbow usage because arrows were both expensive _and_ annoying to carve, unless they were arrows for her hunting bow. But she believed him, so that would be really convenient – as evidenced by Sesshōmaru-kun and Toga, not all yōkai could be purified, and ningen couldn't be purified ever at all. Sesshōmaru-kun could poison _anything_ though. He was, after all, the daiyōkai of the acid claws. Kagome adored Sesshōmaru-kun.

About arrows, Toga had been very kind to her and let her copy the hunting arrows from some time period – she wasn't sure which – that were by far less painful for the animal getting hit than the traditional arrowhead was. It was basically a straight, sharpened staff, with no arrowhead at all. The arrow went all the way in to the fletching, killed faster, pulled out easy and smooth, and if she was trying to do something like injure or dissuade an animal or yōkai without killing it, there was _far_ less blood loss and internal injury that she – or the yōkai, if it could without her help – had to heal afterwards. Nobody knew why Kagome had fewer theoretical problems with injuring or killing ningen, oni, and humanoid yōkai than she did non-humanoid yōkai and animals, but she did – even though she still really had no qualms with hunting. She just didn't like _injuring_ animals. Swift, painless killing was what she enjoyed.

It was a skill she took pride in; just like any yōkai would.

When Sesshōmaru-kun had given his-her longbow to her, he had said that it wasn't his only gift, but the other ones would come later and one was attached to one of his father's gifts. Oh; and Kodokuso granted her immunity to even the strongest and most foreign poisons – Sesshōmaru regularly ingested new and upcoming poisons, acids, venoms, and various things to give himself consistent and continual immunity, and to add them to his own abilities. More could be added to Kodokuso as he came across them, in either universe. Kagome had been overwhelmed nearly to tears at the care and thought put into this gift of his.

Then Toga had given her _five freaking weapons_. Granted –  not all of them were yōkai weapons. Well, okay they kind of were but they weren't simultaneously. The daggers were made from yōkai bone like all of her practise blades were, only these were _crazy sharp_ and had regenerating yōki infused into them – but they weren't like what you could get from Tōtōsai, and didn't have “attacks” you could unlock. Although, her alpha and Sesshōmaru had told her, Tōtōsai had passed on, but one of his apprentices had surpassed him, and made her weapons for her in exchange for being included as one of the people that would be _shifted_ over to the new universe because they had had significant contact with Toga's influence or her influence.

That explained why he had actually been gone for the entire two weeks it took to get all the weapons made – Kagome had had the most _difficult_ time sleeping being alone in her bed, to the point she ended up asking her mama if she could sleep with her halfway through the first week. She hadn't slept alone since she moved to the shrine!

Anyhow – those daggers actually _had_ been made by the same person who made her other weapons, just not using the process that made them “alive”, with a will – and a voice – of their own. Toga told her that her weapons would “speak” to her sometimes, once they were active – right now they were inert, because she didn't need them in this era; once they went through the well they would activate, which meant she had to take them in one at a time to adjust. Apparently the yōkai who made her weapons for her was a bloody _genius_.

Kagome, again, voiced that she thought this was honestly a bit _much_ , but Toga had let her know that she was, eventually, going to be spending two or three months a year in a court, surrounded by possibly (Kagome thought probably, Toga was gorgeous _and_ powerful) hostile yōkai, and the rest of the time patrolling lands and getting attacked by _definitely_ hostile yōkai. She needed all the advantages she could get, despite being as talented as she was, and in case they were wrong about her being able to be _killed_ and that her immortality was only with regards to death by natural causes.

The compliment had made her blush, but she _still_ thought this was overkill.

Anyhow – her second bow, a hunting bow that was named Rakurai (lightning strike – her bows had such _cool_ names!), had been made from the _same fang_ as the katana and wakizashi he'd had made for her, and when Kagome frowned, stared at them, and asked how the _hell_ that was possible, her betrothed had fallen onto the floor laughing.

She kicked him in the side, just because she _could_. Ass. Hmph.

Sesshōmaru-kun had then kindly explained to her that he was able to find the way to Toga's skeleton (which was both cool _and_ disturbing), which was of his _natural_ form.

It made a lot of sense, then – those fangs would be _enormous_.

It was also why this present had, technically, only been _three_ weapons – two Fangs and one bone (the daggers had been made from the same bone).

Kagome thought that was _stupid_ , her pack had gone into insanity mode, and given her six special weapons when in all reality all she _needed_ was a yōkai bow (she was too strong for normal bows at full strength, after all) and a Fang katana, considering that Toga could make his weapons have different forms, and so could Sesshōmaru-kun. If even that – it wasn't as if she was helpless without them, after all, and regular metal or yōkai bone could channel her miko-ki since it _wasn't_ reiryoku and didn't react badly with yōki when she wasn't intending on harm towards the yōki or what contained it in question. Actually because Intent Mattered, even if it _had been_ reiryoku she could have used them.

Toga had picked her up then and cuddled her, realising that part of her problem was the implied helplessness going on with the “special” weapons, and he and Sesshōmaru-kun explained that in yōkai culture, being given weapons was a rite of passage, of a sort – Sesshōmaru-kun didn't get Tenseiga until he was the equivalent of _nineteen_ , after all – and that giving her yōkai weapons was a sign that they respected her skill and knew she could handle having, essentially, living weapons – and handle a multitude of them, each with their own will and their own personality and their own voice.

Then Sesshōmaru-kun rounded on Toga and scolded his father for forgetting to teach Kagome about that, which was _hilarious_ to see her betrothed getting chastised by his son.

Once Kagome was feeling better, she had been presented with the katana and wakizashi, which were named Raimei (thunder) and Jinrai (thunderclap) – which was _entirely_ fitting: three weapons made from he same fang, all having names relating to the same natural phenomenon; and having the longer sword called “thunder” and the smaller one a more diminutive “thunderclap” (a loud bang that lasted a short time, as opposed to a long rolling noise with more depth and duration) was _perfect_.

Even though she still felt that it was too much, Kagome had to admit to loving her new weapons – they were so versatile and _powerful_. Kagome might not actively seek out power, but she definitely  respectedit, and even inactive, her weapons had it in spades.

Kagome had a nagging suspicion that both her fiancée and her eventual stepson would rather she be overpowered and get rid of her enemy sooner than she did in the original timeline. She also decided that she probably _would,_ although she wasn't sure how that would affect the people she was supposed to meet and the friends she was supposed to make. She _did_ , however, know that her beloved was intending on keeping things as close to what happened originally as he could with the two obvious changes of having her ally with Sesshōmaru-kun in the beginning (Kagome was _not_ about to let his  stupid half-brother cut off _her_ Sesshōmaru-kun's arm, if she could avoid it) and having his presence with her (although he would **absolutely not** be interfering with her duty).

Although, honestly, Kagome would much rather forego the “quest” nature of this mess and just prevent the jewel from ever shattering. Apparently though, for some reason, it was _necessary_ that it shatter. Oh, right – when she had asked Hachiman-sama about that, He had told her that unless it left her body she could not control it and that eventually Susanoo-no-Mikoto-sama would tell her more. Right. Duh.

When the weapons had been given out, she had been gifted with a _gorgeous_ set of yōkai soap and shampoo – the bottles were _much_ larger than what she was used to seeing, though, so when she asked why, Sesshōmaru-kun told her that there were two reasons for it: reason number one, they were to last until she ceased coming through the well.

That made sense, actually. (Of course it did, Toga might be ridiculous sometimes, but Sesshōmaru-kun _always_ made sense. Full stop. Kagome adored that, but was not entirely sure how Rin-chan dealt with it constantly; Kagome wouldn't be able to handle that on a daily basis!)

The second reason was that mates bathed together, and actually, _all_ pack bathed together, but due to the nature of society in this place, they had foregone that – at which point Kagome had looked at the  enormous amount of hair that Toga had, and nodded sagely. It might take a huge amount less to wash yourself with yōkai soap and shampoo than it did the ningen versions, but Toga and Sesshōmaru had _absurdly long_ hair.

Gorgeous, but still absurdly long. It was a good thing that yōki and reiki could dispel liquids very easily so they wouldn't be forced to sit with dripping wet hair for hours.

The third presents had been unexpected as hell, but utterly sweet and wonderful. Toga had suddenly, with no warning, leaned over and _bit_ her ear where some people had piercings in the cartilage at the top—not that his fangs could actually make her bleed or anything, but Kagome _knew_ what he was doing, and her eyes had widened as she felt her ear – and felt her reiki.

Sure enough, there was a trace of yōki threaded throughout her reiki and miko-ki, and a stronger concentration focused in her ear where he had bitten her.

Toga had marked her as his intended. And even though the physical manifestation of a replication of his fang piercing her ear hadn't appeared, it had _still worked_.

Kagome had been _positive_ that he wouldn't be able to **do** that, but when, almost crying with happiness, she asked _how_ , he just shrugged and said he'd refused to give up until he found a way to make it happen. Then he told Sesshōmaru-kun to add his gift so that he could give Kagome her her last gift of the day (Toga and Sesshōmaru-kunusually celebrated her birthday a day early, but this year it had been late, and Kagome could figure out why as she saw the enormity of the gifts given to her). Sesshōmaru-kun had laid a hand on her head and welcomed her to the family.

She had _no idea_ how Toga was going to surpass _this_ , but she was looking forward to it – Kagome was realising how utterly spoiled she was right about now, but since she wasn't a brat, it didn't really matter much. Being spoiled was wholly fine if one didn't use that as a reason to act badly, after all.

It turned out that his response to her unspoken thought was to grab Raimei and Rakurai, one of her yōkai-made travel bags, and _her_ , picking her up with one arm and dashing out the door and into the forest. Kagome knew where he was headed almost immediately when he veered off to the right – the mountain that their shrine was at the base of, which held her favourite cave, one with an onsen it.

It was the weekend, which explained Rakurai; she'd be hunting for her dinner for the weekend. Raimei's presence was confusing and anomalous, however – it wasn't as if the blade would be anywhere near useful like the daggers she had immediately slid into her obi once she had received them would be. Her daggers could bleed, gut, and skin her kill, as well as cut it up for cooking if it wasn't just cooked directly over the fire, and butcher it to cook more evenly if it _was_ cooked directly over the fire. Not to mention, the yōki imbued in them naturally reached out and divested whatever they landed in of any illness, rot, or poison the item they were being used on carried; that wasn't something _all_ yōki did, but since her daggers were essentially meant for hunting with being a backup defence as a  second use, Toga had insisted. It was very common for animals to get ill and for food to go bad and whilst she and he had enhanced immune systems, her ningen allies for this quest had far weaker immune systems than even normal ningen born in this era/world.

Just because they'd gotten _very lucky_ the first time around, did not mean they would this time around. Preventative measures were far smarter and safer than depending on luck, which was fickle, or Fate, which was every last bit as fickle too, considering that her fate had ended up being completely horrible because she got rid of that Shikon; it had punished her severely for wishing its existence away. Thankfully for her, the Kami were aiming to thwart the vile Shikon that resided inside of her; in a way that it was likely not expecting, because the Shikon did not realise that it could be taken care of without being wished out of being. Kagome was still technically unaware of her previous fate, but she was very intelligent and could guess what it had ended up being, considering her beloved's enmity towards his youngest son. If he was anything like Toga… Well, yeah.

Being reminded of her fate made Kagome send a silent thanks up to Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama and Omoikane-sama, who had been the ones to bring attention of the rest of the Kami to this affront to Their sensibilities and demand that They all work together to find a way to fix it. Hachiman-sama had been particularly incensed about her fate because her actions had helped end the needless slaughter of the people of Nihon, of whom He was protector over. Most people falsely just took His aspect of being the Kami of war to mean He supported war in general; it absolutely did not. He supported Nihon _in_ war – and  protected Her people _from_ war. Anything that brought about the slaughter of His people was something that needed to be **ended** , from His perspective.

Kagome only knew this because a few moons ago He had come to her in one of her dreams, bowed to her and Toga, explained who He was, why He was thanking her, and wished her luck – as well as giving her a _blessing_ – on her quest that would be beginning next year. Kagome now was receiving additional lessons from Grandpa on the Shinto folklore he had raised his children on, but that since she had so much on her plate already, he had refrained from adding to her lessons.

The only reason that Kagome had been able to keep her composure and not _completely freak out_ at being addressed by one of the Kami during this experience was because when she was eight she had gotten purposely lost in her forest for a lesson on navigation, in a part of the forest where Hachi-kun couldn't help her get lost like normal, found a lost kitsune kit (lesser, not greater), used her empathy to find its den, led it back home, and that night received a thanks and a blessing (although this one was on _her_ , not her quest) for her help with the kit – as well as a strong insinuation that she would have more direct experience with kitsune in the future – from Inari Ōkami-sama Herself.

Somehow she didn't think that direct experience had anything to do with the fact that she had befriended the kitsune family when they tried to pay her back. Not when Toga had gotten incredibly thoughtful and immediately began teaching her how kitsune gestures differed from inu gestures, and making her learn them well enough to reach for them instinctively whenever she was around kitsune.

She looked forward to meeting this kitsune on her quest; kitsune were her _favourite_ yōkai. She didn't even try to hide this fact—her two favourite humanoid yōkai personally might both be inu, but her favourite breed of yōkai in general was kitsune, full stop. Even Hana-sensei, the orphaned (and then adopted by Rin-chan) neko yōkai who taught her in the use of her daggers was well aware of her preferences. Hana-sensei laughingly supported them though, telling Kagome that kitsune were the best of both worlds – every bit as feline as they were canine, and only their best traits.

She rather agreed with that.

Toga told Kagome that the reason she liked kitsune so much was probably that she was naturally cat-like in many ways, but had grown up being trained inu, and therefore could be considered to be a kitsune in mind, albeit one with a heavy inu lean. Kagome thought he was probably hiding something from her but...

It explained as well as the next thing, so she just accepted it for now.

They were at the cave now, and it was outfitted as it always was. Two futons; one for her grandpa and one for her and Toga. An enormous pile of firewood taking up a quarter of the surface of each of the walls closest to the entrance. A firepit created by Sesshōmaru-kun. A reasonably flat stone for food prep. Uh... Hmm. Wait a second. Why was her futon larger? Not just larger than Grandpa's—it had always been larger than Grandpa's—but now it was big enough to fit both her and Toga with plenty of extra room, which made no sense – they didn't _need_ extra room when he was only a ghost.

It struck her, as it had before, that it was _beyond_ unfair that she couldn't kiss her betrothed.

A laugh echoed into her mind, and a voice that her mind instinctively recognised as Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama spoke to her, “ _Oh, beloved little Kagome; some unfairness is inevitable, of course, especially because Divine interference has allowed your life to be more blessed than most,_ _seeing as_ _W_ _e have allowed you to be thoroughly prepared for your_ _d_ _estiny_ _. This is not the first unfair thing, and will be far from the last, as you are about to find out – but do not lose hope, because your soul-mate is clever, intelligent, and determined beyond belief, those same traits you adore in_ _Inari_ _Ōkami_ _'s_ _precious, tricky_ _kitsune. This is not the first time he has thwarted_ _a Shikon-influenced_ _Fate's attempt to punish you, nor will it be the last time._ ”

“Um… I… What?”

“ _You are confusing your beloved, little Kagome. Perhaps you should turn your attention to him now, This One will leave you be; keep what I said in mind!_ ”

“Kagome?”

She blinked and inhaled deeply, speaking in a rush once she had the words to do so. “Oh Kami Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama just spoke to me, holy shit. What did I do to merit Her attention beyond what She has already given to me?”

Toga chuckled softly and laid her on the futon, sitting next to her with Raimei in his lap; her bag and Rakurai off to the side at the head of the bed. “I strongly suspect she was reassuring you that you are not about to be punished for me fixing an unfairness that should not exist; and warning you that the reason is because you were already punished for it before you were born, and are just now going to become aware of this punishment.”

The way he said the last immediately made her wary, and she said, “Okay; what am I going to have to bear up under before we can mate?”

He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a wry little grin that had a very strong hint of sadness to it. “Firstly, the delay of our mating until after you have finished off Naraku – at the earliest. Possibly later than that, depending on how soon he is ended and whether the Shikon is complete at the time he has been ended.”

Kagome sat up and promptly whined; not in the way you would say a ningen was whining, but the inu noise, one of many hundreds of noises that she had learned how to do before she could even speak. Toga pressed his forehead against hers and growled comfortingly, stroking a clawed hand through her wavy black locks.

She knew he had more to explain, but right now she just needed to be _comforted_ before she could handle this.


	11. Chapter 11

 

**A/N:** Have an extra chapter! 

\- - -

Toga had been comforting Kagome for some unknown amount of time before she promptly decided to just get the rest over with. Once she informed him of this, he explained exactly why they would have to wait, which would have made her cry if not for his and Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama's hopeful words about fixing some prior unfairness.

“I will not be able to immediately regenerate my humanoid form upon the absorption of my bones. I will be able to assume my natural form at any time I wish, both its full size and its smaller sizes, but when I try to take humanoid form I will still be see-through and only halfway there; considering that only when on shrine grounds and the direct surrounding area can I be felt, well… Yeah. The Kami are very unsure of how long it will take me to fully regenerate, but I managed to divine that it will take a minimum of six moons, which is the earliest you could possibly end Naraku's threat, despite our shameless cheating. You are stronger and more talented, not to mention you will have Sesshōmaru aiding you from the start, but even with these advantages, the shards are spread out all over Nihon, and Naraku can control a majority of the lesser yōkai that will end up finding around half of them.”

Meaning absolutely nothing she tried could change this, and also meaning – it went unsaid, but Toga knew she would figure it out – that the reason he couldn't tell the exact amount of time was that the Shikon was arranging things in such a way that they could not mate at _least_ until she got rid of it; assuming  it wasn't able to get rid of her (not a chance) before then. Fate was not sentient, which was why it was so fickle; anything powerful enough could sway it towards their advantage. Which reminded her – she deserved to _know_ what happened to her the last time around, so that she could have an idea of what kind of things the Shikon was willing to do to get revenge whenever it was thwarted. “Toga, tell me true, before I say anything about this. How bad was it? I'm pretty sure I know what happened; I stayed with him and he abandoned me. But what merited such interference from the Kami when this Kagome's body has been changed so that it is effectively immortal even without the Shikon still residing inside of it?”

He took her hand in his and held it gently, his voice so soft and filled with pain that it nearly broke her heart. “You felt your heart to be so broken that you willed yourself to death. You were only three decades old.”

She didn't get a chance to respond, her love knew her well enough to know that she would be fully unable to comprehend why being left by a love could do that to her. She loved Toga desperately but if he loved someone else more she would want him to be happy with that person, not kill herself because of it! “You had never experienced romantic love in your life before then. The entire time he was with you he called you by pretty much anything except your name, constantly degraded you, compared you negatively with the woman he thought you to be the reincarnation of, repeatedly abandoned you for said resurrected woman, and generally made you feel like nobody could love you; he was an _exception_ to this, of course. It is likely that this was to keep you from leaving him, and not actually done with the intent to hurt you for the sake of hurting you. That does not excuse it or make it better, but it explains it. He did not hate you, but he did not love you enough for yourself to keep you by his side without hurting you to do so.”

Keeping in mind the fact that she would be inexperienced with danger, a life in the wild, physical pain, and emotional pain as well, it made a terrible, horrifying sort of sense that she would fall for someone in spite of such treatment; especially if any of his comparisons held the slightest sort of truth to them. She had seen such over and over again in some of the books she loved to read; people being verbally and emotionally abused generally had some small reason to believe their abuser in what that person said to them, and even if they thought it was an exaggeration, would eventually come to believe it fully, even if that thing became false over time. She was so blessed that she had felt acute emotional pain, mostly dealing with her father, and physical pain – Kagome had had several purposely broken bones, bone bokken _hurt_ , and when dealing with live steel she often got cut in the beginning. Granted, all things were healed rapidly with her ki, but still, she could handle extreme pain incredibly well.

“Then this Kagome will feel incredibly lucky and blessed that you will be able to be fully corporeal whilst in your natural form, because even waiting to mate you is far preferable to undergoing a fate such as this Kagome suffered the first time around in this lifetime. Abuse such as that never ceases to affect someone; even had this Kagome lived once she was abandoned, her life would likely have been unpleasant.”

Toga squeezed her hands; he knew that she still flinched whenever she initiated affection and it wasn't immediately returned if it was by someone she was used to affection from. Kagome had been very careful not to let Sesshōmaru-kun, her mama, or her grandpa know the _real_ reason that her grief in regards to her father had been so subdued; half of her tears when not crying to Toga alone had been well-masked relief. It was completely destroying to have your own father cease returning your affection when you are only three, unless you're around others – especially when he knows how integral it is to your very being and is doing it purposely to punish and harm you for being different through something you could not control.

Kagome had eventually just _stopped_ initiating affection to her father in private, and only doing so when she absolutely _had_ to if other people were around. The coldness behind his actions had been even worse than his spurning her had been. And Kagome was an _inu_ , they could not exist happily without affection. Half the reason for Sesshōmaru-kun's coldness and displeasure with his previous life had been due to the fact that he had no physical affection, a fact which Kagome would remedy; subtly, and over time.

Since it hadn't started until several months after first meeting Toga, the Shikon was almost certainly directly responsible for his actions. Kagome was already well-acquainted with the kind of damage she would have undergone at her eventual step-son's hands, and had been from a painfully young age. If her father had lived, he could have irreparably damaged Kagome to an extent that not even Toga could have prevented or remedied, considering that he had already begun limiting their visits to the shrine. Her eventual step-son would be unable to harm her now, though.

“The reason why Amaterasu-sama spoke to you, koishi, is sitting in this Toga's lap.”

Kagome blinked at that; Raimei? What could a _sword_ do to reward her in some manner that would fix an unfairness existing in her life currently?

Toga was obviously aware of her thoughts and chuckled, removing his hands from hers, sliding the sword into his obi-slash-sash (really, it was far too long to be an obi, beyond the just under four metres that most obi tended to be at their longest for adult men, but Kagome felt that it was slightly insulting to call it a sash, so she tilted back and forth – sometimes Toga deserved insulting, considering how arrogant he could be; “It isn't arrogance if it's true, dearest.” puh- _lease_ , it _**so**_ was), and—oh _Kami_ no  wonder Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama had felt the need to reassure her personally because this was just _way too much_ and Kagome didn't even realise that she was crying until she was in Toga's lap, her tears being licked off of her face as she sobbed, gasping and whimpering out her shock.

This was _too good to be true_ , seriously, only it wasn't, he was _solid_ , and without warning he was kissing her and she returned it with a desperation and need that she had never imagined she could feel in her life.

Kagome wasn't sure how long her first kiss lasted, but it was far too short, so all she did when it ended was take a much-needed breath and then yank her betrothed back in for another, and _another_ , and **another**.

When they finally pulled away from each other, Kagome's cheeks weren't the only wet ones, so she pulled her alpha's head down and licked his cheeks clean before whimpering comfortingly and rubbing her face on the sleeve of his kimono before he could lick her cheeks dry – he deserved to be the only one having that done to him, for once. Kagome knew that the physical separation between them had been _far_ harder on her love than it had been on her; he might have been able to touch her, but he couldn't _**feel**_ her, a fact which  nobody else knew about. He hadn't even told Kagome until she'd asked him four years ago what it felt like to be half-solid and touch something, at which point the look on his face rather prevented him from even attempting to lie to her because it had immediately given away the horrible truth.

Toga could see, hear, smell, and taste, but his sense of touch had been completely torn from him in his half-solid form. The mere idea of such a thing had given her several nights of nightmares which overtook the manipulation Toga used to keep her in his dream-world, and had her sobbing terribly whenever she awoke from them. It was _so beyond cruel_ that Toga should have to suffer the machinations of that vile, terrible jewel residing inside of her, just because he was preventing Kagome from wishing it away and then  willing herself to death.

Especially because if the Shikon only fucking _paid attention_ to her thoughts like it very well should, seriously, it would realise that she wasn't planning to wish it away and that it would gain the immortality it so dreadfully wanted. Granted, it would be severely constrained and limited in extreme as to the power it could exert upon the world, but it would still be affecting things, changing the world, and living until the end of time.

And despite that the beings inside of the Shikon were very sentient, the jewel itself had no true sentience itself – a will, yes, to gain immortality, but not true sentience. It was blatantly clear that after a time even as short as half a century its will would begin to wane, it would cease caring so much about how it affected the changes that were happening, because without true sentience, immortality was frankly boring as hell. Toga had admitted to her that whilst he had in the end fallen for Izayoi to an extent, he hadn't intended for her to be more than a distraction to stave off boredom. And that most of his love for her had come upon him once he scented her pregnancy – she was no longer simply Izayoi, gentle princess, she was the mother of his second son, and that made _all_ the difference.

He had loved even his arranged mate, Satori, whilst she was pregnant with his first son, although outside of it he'd found her utterly unbearable to be with. She was far too cold and held back, although he'd never let her see that he felt that way; she was far more pleasant when he flirted and teased and cajoled. But by the time he met Izayoi she'd found herself another male and so; there came about his second son.

Who had not only directly caused her death, but caused her beloved Toga to undergo nearly five hundred years of never being able to _feel_ _a_ _thing_. Oh Kagome had plans for that boy, and they included blatant, shameless manipulation of his prejudice about her, as well as making sure that her mask and reiki scent-dampening were so damn tight he would not be able to tell how she truly was until he got Tessaiga – and thus, would have been tricked into promising _her_ that he would stay with her until her quest was finished; without specifying which quest she was talking about, and with a provision that she could send him away or leave his presence whenever she needed “female time”, which was oh-so-delightfully vague.

Especially since Kagome was incredibly lucky because her manipulation of her reiki and miko-ki in the ways which she did so meant that she underwent very short, very light, and very _easy_ monthly cycles. Although Toga was a bit sceptical; apparently when he observed her adventures the second time around he hadn't been able to tell when she was going through that excepting by the change in her scent to begin with, so it might just be that the Shikon-changed body of hers developed so.

This son of his would not know she was on her monthly cycle when she was, thanks to the yōkai-made camping clothes (really, travel-clothes, but since she never left the shrine grounds/forest in a way that would need them, they got called camping clothes for now) which naturally dampened certain scents in order so that those yōkai with sensitive noses did not have to bear up under them, and she could steal a few days up to a sennight away from his presence to be with Toga.

It was clear that Toga had known, when she informed him of her plans a few months ago, that he would largely still be not solid excepting in canine form.

Which brought her back to the present, and it was clear from the way she was being held that Toga was doing his own sort of heavy thinking. Not to mention probably simply enjoying being able to hold her and _feel_ her. Kagome would take this one step further. She pulled away, growling enough to let him know that if he didn't _let go_ she would use her reiki to magnify her miko-ki so that she could sting him, and despite his despondent whine, she slid over and patted the pillow at the head of the futon. Confused, he laid down like she was telling him to, and she promptly slid her body on top of his – chastely, but giving him the kind of full-body contact they usually had, only in a manner with which they could kiss more when he was less overwhelmed.

He choked and growled in thanks; Kagome could tell what Toga truly _needed_ from her even when he didn't know it himself, most of the time, despite her keeping her empathy thoroughly shielded almost constantly. Right now he was still overwhelmed with being able to feel her, so she spoke softly, something he could listen to but would not distract him because what Kagome said, went, when it came to _her_ revenge against the hanyō. “I think I'll create those subjugation beads myself, and place them on him before he wakes up – just not use them until after I ally us with Sesshōmaru-kun except maybe to test them or something. I'd rather not have the village miko in control of when they get removed; from what you told me she seems like the type to trust easily after a while of good behaviour and once he earns her trust she will likely become open to his asking for them to be removed after we defeat Naraku. I'd rather not lose the ability to punish him as I see fit until he's thoroughly been re-educated.

“And I talked to Sesshōmaru-kun, he gave me some really good tips on how to deal with his younger self; he said that early on into our acquaintance he was a bit more emotional – he attributed it to nearing the end of his second growth period into adulthood – and it wasn't until over the length of his acquaintance with us that he lost the emotionality once more. He believes that if I can capture his attention by offering him a secret – your existence, which I will be asking you to please keep secret until you are fully regenerated, towards your youngest, at least, not necessarily anybody else – then he will be open to listening to me, especially once I explain to him the workings of Tessaiga. I'm not sure when this will be happening, since even you aren't sure the timing, so I will be bringing Kodokuso with me the first time around and hiding it next to the well so that all I have to do is stop by and grab it for the village miko to give it to me—it will be wrapped up so it doesn't harm her—after I have secured the cooperation of your youngest.”

Unsaid went the fact that she still didn't know his name – Toga said that was because he wasn't best pleased with the name; certainly, it was fitting, considering that his name was the name of the forest he currently resided in, and Izayoi must have been somewhat prescient in order to name him that, but even so… He'd prefer it to be something not so… Inelegant. Sesshōmaru-kun's name was accurately descriptive, but also very elegant and suitable for someone of royal birth. His youngest was of royal birth on both sides of his heritage, and yet Izayoi had given him such a _stupid_ name. Kagome promised to take the most acceptable part of it and turn it into a nickname, which Toga had sincerely thanked her for.

“Also, there is going to be absolutely no mistake whatsoever that your youngest is not and will never be alpha of the pack he is in once it exists – having been raised ningen, he won't realise what the yōki in my energy means, or probably even notice it, so he won't know he already has an alpha male, but it will be made blatantly clear from the forming of **my** pack that any time he gets ideas about him being in charge of things, he will promptly get sat. And because I know you are looking forward to beating some lessons into him, I will ask Sesshōmaru-kun – by the way, I do genuinely understand why he's making me continue calling him that until I meet him again, but it is most unbefitting of him as an adult and I will be glad once I meet him _there_ and can differentiate between the two of them by dropping the suffix for _this_ Sesshōmaru – to only teach him the absolute basics, just enough so that he doesn't slaughter innocents or get himself killed.”

Toga was doing much better now, stroking over her back and scratching gently over her scalp as she rested her cheek on his chest, growling in a manner she had _never_ heard from him before; although, being raised inu, she instinctively understood it. This was a sound of the most contentment and happiness one could possibly experience. She knew she would be hearing it a lot when they did this for the first while; possibly even well into her quest. Kagome was acutely aware of the fact that not being able to feel the touch of someone you loved was intensely painful, especially for inu yōkai – hers had only been a very short period of time, when she was but a child, and she was _still_ affected by it.

He, however, had been experiencing such a lack for not only the original span of her existence once falling into the well, but in addition to that, once he gained a body four months before her Mama became pregnant, he had been unable to touch anything and feel it – thus making him acutely aware that although his being able to touch her would be a blessing for Kagome, it would be a punishment for him. Considering that Grandpa had willingly paid the price for his new state of being, the Shikon could be the only reason for this, and so it was _reaching back through time_ in order to punish him for interfering with its revenge against her.

She was going to _beyond_ enjoy serving as the prison for that vile jewel – with her abilities sealed, it had complete control over what it did with its power, but once her abilities were unsealed and she had made her wish, it would find that it could no longer affect the world around it as it was used to doing, although she would not let it become aware of that until it had become bored with its existence; Kagome would make it feel _indebted_ to her, so that in as little time as possible it sank into a sleep of sorts, a hibernation because it was bored and finding that its eternal life was actually not what it really wanted.

By then she would have had time to decide if she wanted the additional power it gave her or not, and if not, then she would wish it out of existence; not only would it not care, but it wouldn't even be aware of it happening, being asleep as it would be.

And Kagome promptly hid these thoughts (as she always did whenever she thought about these things) underneath a very well hidden and undetectable barrier in her mind – it would do no good for the Shikon to divine her plans before they could be implemented, or it would punish her even more severely rather than being so utterly pleased with its freedom from her body that it stopped actively focusing on Toga and her.

She sighed and growled back to him in as close a manner as she could achieve – being more spoiled and having been able to feel him, she would not be content in the same way he was until he was fully regenerated; possibly even until they were mated.

He pulled her into another kiss soon after that, and she spent the rest of the weekend in a haze of delight, not even caring that they could only be like this when he was wearing her Raimei. Because, in the end this actually solved a few problems, like how to avoid people demanding he just take control and end Naraku, how to avoid his son immediately resenting him for constantly siding with Kagome over him (by the time he came back in full, his youngest son would _know_ that of course his father would side with the alpha of the pack, especially after finding out about their betrothal – plus Kikyō would be in existence by then, and Kagome would be growing into her own natural appearance), and how to calm Toga's temper down enough that he didn't beat his son to near-death every time he “taught” him how to defend himself with a sword; things would be developing so differently that he'd be more complacent and content that no matter what happened, the boy would not be able to kill Kagome again.

It spoke a lot that every time the Shikon made things worse for them, Toga managed to find a way around it. Or the Kami did, but it was rather clear that excepting the death of her father, they were just letting Kagome and her beloved take care of things in the ways they felt necessary and suitable.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Whew, _here we go_! First off,  ABOUT Sesshōmaru! I am using the _manga_ version for this beginning part; in the manga he was far more open with his emotions to an extent in the beginning (although they were all negative), the why of this in regards to this storywas explained last chapter and in this chapter is summarily taken advantage of.

Anyhow! The story officially starts here; I couldn't just give a one chapter summary of Kagome's changed childhood, or go into it into great detail either, so I took the middle ground and provided a few snapshots. The rest of this fic will _still_ be closer to a mixture of snapshots and a summarising of things, which will probably span more than one chapter in some cases and in other cases will be several snapshots in one chapter.

Also, I hope I have managed to convince you guys that Kagome is still herself at heart, just with certain traits magnified more or subdued more depending on what will prevent her from undergoing as much potential trauma and shit once her Sengoku Jidai adventures begin. How much she has and hasn't changed will be far clearer once the tachi forms and she begins making her friends in this new era. Don't just go by this chapter, Inuyasha has a weird place in her heart because, remember people, in her last iteration he pretty much _killed her_. So… yeah. She will not be treating everyone like she treats him. (Also no, I do not hate Inuyasha and the bashing will stop relatively soon from this chapter because Inuyasha surprised me in a _really_ good way!)

\- - -

“Yasha if you do not _shut up_ and _sit down_ right fucking now I am going to sit you into the ground so hard that the bones you are standing on will permanently harm your **own** bones. I will  not have you hurting Sesshōmaru-kun!”

Kagome thought it was rather more the name she assigned the daiyōkai – which she had studiously avoided saying until now – than the threat (Kagome had carefully added the “boy” to her beads, so she could say her threat word in regular usage and never accidentally sat him – as well as being her own manner of vengeance for the way in which she had been aware he would treat her, and in which he treated her already; it was rather demeaning to be called a boy when one was an adult by the standards of their era, but since he _absolutely refused_ to call her by her name, she thought she deserved some small bit of revenge) that made Yasha obey her; he hadn't experienced a sitting except once yet, to prove what she could do to him, and it had been particularly gentle.

Not because she liked him much. Actually, she pretty much couldn't stand him at this point in time, despite the fact that he was obviously still feeling the pain of a seeming betrayal and being forced to be around someone who looked like not only his betrayer but his first ever love interest. His language was beyond appalling; yes she could curse with the best of them, but generally only for emphasis or when she was angry and did not care what the person getting a taste of her temper would think about her afterwards – not _constantly_ , like he did. (Seriously, how had Kikyō borne up under that?) His personality was brash and crude to the extreme, beyond what one would expect from him despite having had to survive in a hostile world until this point – he had been _raised_ by a _princess_ for goodness' sake! And _Kami_ but he smelled, even having yōkai-made clothes that almost always muffled certain kinds of scents – body odour being one of them, seeing as most people in this era were not big on bathing, even amongst yōkai, who in general bathed more than ningen did.

_Most_ inu were the  exact opposite of ningen and bathed both regularly and often. Apparently this was not so for Yasha.

His reaction to her Sesshōmaru-kun (who did, in fact, both look and act so young that she felt much more mature than he was right now, and although she was aware that he rapidly matured during this coming year, she was going to take advantage of the fact that he was blatantly emotional right now to set the standard for all their future interactions) was merely topping off a long list of things she Did Not Like about her youngest stepson. (No, she and Toga weren't mated yet, but they were as good as and would be as soon as possible.)

“What is your reasoning behind addressing this Sesshōmaru so – wait, why-”

Here it was! Kagome swiftly interrupted him with a subtle, but clear, look at Yasha over to the side, and the words, “Please do not ask this Kagome that at such a time, Sesshōmaru-kun. However, as to the first query, this Kagome is from the future, and is very close with her Sesshōmaru-kun there; he made Kodokuso for her, after all.”

At that she pulled out her longbow and held it out for him to examine. He was clearly impressed with the quality and the abilities, and looked at her not only with a respect that had been lacking before, but with an overt curiosity that was _oh so very adorable, squee_!

This Sesshōmaru was definitely Sesshōmaru- _kun_ , for sure. She hoped that her interference would delay his returning to that cold mask of his – possibly permanently, in private. He certainly never wore it in private in the future, after all. “This Sesshōmaru will grant your request for a later meeting; and suspects that you have something to inform him of as to Tessaiga, or you would not have followed him here, despite your acquaintance with the hanyō.”

Ah, clever, _clever_! See, if it had meant losing Bakusaiga to do otherwise, Kagome would have gone against her own wishes and allowed for Sesshōmaru-kun's arm to be removed – however, the removal of his arm had nothing to do with it, really; it was just him finally accepting that not only would Tessaiga weaken him, but that he simply didn't care about the sword in any way excepting that it subdued the imbalance inherent in his half-brother's blood. The regaining of his arm had been a gift, of sorts, from the sword to him.

Before she could respond, however, Inuyasha (as she called him both in her mind and out loud when he was particularly bothering, upsetting, or angering her, and his interruption was _doing so right now_ ) spoke up with an, “Oi! Why th' fuck does _he_ get a suffix from the first time you meet him – you might know this asshole where you're from but he don't know you yet and fuckin' attacked you when he saw you, anyhow!”

“Because, Yasha, I do not know you whatsoever yet, and to be frank you have been incredibly and completely inexcusably rude to me from the moment you met me, whereas Sesshōmaru-kun's response to my presence was highly appropriate – I was in his way and yōkai simply get rid of pests.”

Then she grumbled under her breath, loud enough that Sesshōmaru-kun would be able to hear, but soft enough that Inuyasha wouldn't be able to because his hearing wasn't as sensitive as a full yōkai's was, “Plus I can hardly stand being around you, you're an asshole, and you damn well _stink_ ; Kami, don't you ever bloody bathe?”

Oh, the smirk she was rewarded with was _so worth it_ , and she smiled sweetly at him, “Yes, Sesshōmaru-kun, this Kagome does in fact have a few things to make you aware of, in the name of easing relations; and dearly hopes that you will be amenable to an alliance with her and her pack as an entity – not with its particular members separately. Anyhow, the Tessaiga can only be drawn by a ningen – and only wielded by a hanyō or yōkai that is doing so in order to protect ningen. Yasha you are not listening. Sit, boy. This Kagome would not request that you protect her, Sesshōmaru-kun, whereas Yasha has already agreed to aid her on her quest. As well, something important that **both** of you should be aware of; please  listen up, Yasha, or I will sit you again.”

She got a grumbled response, but he listened – probably only because he didn't want to miss out on information his brother was getting; completely unaware that he had already done so several times, once due to her clever manoeuvring, the second due to his lesser physical enhancements, and the third due to his being buried in bones. “This Kagome was made aware of the fact that the Tessaiga is the only thing that prevents the strength of your honoured father's blood from wholly overpowering the weakness inherent in Yasha's mother's blood – something that would, effectively, turn Yasha into a rampaging, mindless beast that slaughters everything in its wake, be they innocent or evil, friend or antagonist. Ideally it would never have left this tomb, and controlled his blood from within his body for the rest of his life, however Yasha will need it for our quest, for many reasons, which do not need to be listed here.”

Her hanyō acquaintance immediately assumed she was keeping his secrets for him and it deepened his trust in her seeming-innocence – upon informing Kaede of exactly why she had subdued him and that she _needed_ his help, but that more importantly, she needed him to _trust her_ deeply enough that by the time she took control of their forming group, he would keep waving things off until he was used to her being in control, Kaede had agreed to upholding the falsehood that she had required Kagome to place the beads upon him. Especially because she _would_ have demanded subjugation beads anyhow. Kagome had made a great show of patting them into place in such a manner that he didn't realise they had already been around his neck, and so he already pretty much trusted her as fully as he could someone he'd just met.

Kagome was wholly aware that only her similar appearance to Kikyō, initial insistence that she was “ _not this Kikyō person, my name is Kagome! Ka-go-me!_ ”, and reassurance from Kaede that while she might not be Kikyō, she was probably— _not_ definitely, Kaede knew the truth about that as well, but when asked if Kagome should let him know straight off or keep it from him, Kaede decided on her own – Kagome had assumed she would have to nudge her into it, but apparently not – that it would be safer for all of them if he thought she had Kikyō's soul—her reincarnation, were the reasons that Inuyasha trusted her so deeply.

Oh, and her seeming-helplessness and fear, which would be waved off once she brought in Raimei, Jinrai, and Rakurai and informed him that she knew how to use a _bow_ , just not a _long_ bow, and that she'd been so terrified because she had been trained in blades from a young age and felt helpless without them – which was a blatant lie, she had her daggers with her after all, but he might never find that out until her not feeling so could be attributed to her experiences here.

Once Kaede let Inuyasha know about Kagome probably being Kikyō's reincarnation, Kagome had then had Kodokuso shoved into her hands and been informed that Kikyō's favoured weapon was the bow, even if she didn't know how to use it she would with a little bit of practise.

It had been stupidly easy for her to fake being a bad shot and purposely shatter the jewel, then. She would arrange for “lessons” as a part of her alliance with Sesshōmaru-kun, which would explain her proficiency after this. She would tell Inuyasha, who would probably _never_ know whether it was an untruth or not, even when things ended and they were a real family, that there wasn't actually much difference between the types of bows once she got used to the change in how they were held.

Which led her to Sesshōmaru-kun's response to her statement, which was a very slight smirk and a slight tilt of his head in acknowledgement. He was definitely not only accepting of her as a person on her own merits now, due to her obvious intelligence, overt manipulations, subtle manipulations, willingness to use force, and pretty much general yōkai-ness; he was accepting of her being worthy to be his father's intended, and accepting of the fact that despite her young appearance, she was far older than she looked.

Considering that his only other mother figure had _never_ mothered him or been affectionate towards him, she would be able to do those things without him feeling as if she were taking an already-held and unwanted place in his life; instead, because of his growth period instability and the fact that her body language was inu, he would simply accept those things from her because she was clearly an alpha bitch and, as his father's intended, she was in fact _his_ alpha bitch. The fact that he was not chafing under such restraints actually made quite a bit of sense – firstly, her presence meant his father would be re-entering his life, something he desperately wanted. Second, she was—unbeknownst to his half-brother, which made it all the better—completely antagonistic towards the hanyō he despised. Third, she was very smart, aware of her intelligence, and willing to not only use it to aid her endeavours, but to thoroughly insult his uncultured half-brother just because she could, essentially.

Kagome might or might not ever explain her antagonism towards Inuyasha to Sesshōmaru-kun, but it was definitely helping her relationship with Sesshōmaru-kun blossom rapidly.

The most important part of her endeavour being done, she grabbed the Tessaiga (which whispered along the edges of her mind, greeted Kodokuso politely, and then made sure that the person it was made for was going to be the recipient) and shoved it at Yasha, who grabbed it eagerly – he might not be allowed to fight his brother any more, but it was something from his _father_ , a man he looked up to inordinately despite knowing next to nothing about the yōkai. Kagome only hoped that her plans would be able to be implemented how she intended and that by the time Toga came back into her life _as her actual mate_ instead of her betrothed who couldn't even stay solid in his humanoid form without a freaking  sword, Yasha would be over his developing crush on her, viewing her like a mother, and ready to accept not only his father's presence, but his education as well.

Well, all she _could_ do was hope, on that front.

Then she walked over to Sesshōmaru-kun and boldly placed her hand on his neck in such a way that meant she was inviting him into her pack – and thus his father's pack – as an addition to his leading his own pack, and tagged him with her reiki so that she could track him down whenever he was far enough away that she couldn't sense him. Sesshōmaru-kun was inordinately powerful for his age, but he was also very intelligent and kept his yōki restrained tightly so that he would not have people constantly challenging him and be needlessly killing unworthy opponents. She kept her hand there as he decided what he wanted to do – in the end, before he accepted her invitation he shot a look towards Yasha and got a small shake of the head in response to his unspoken query—no, she hadn't offered this to Yasha and would not be doing so just yet.

He was young enough that this blatant sign of favour was enough to make him tilt his head to the side in acceptance, and she smiled happily, murmuring, “This Kagome is so very happy that Sesshōmaru-kun accepts her and is willing to be in her pack. Thank you very much, Sesshōmaru-kun.”

Then she leaned up and kissed his cheek, before stepping back and calling out, “Yasha, we need to get out of this place, it won't be here much longer before it is gone, can you feel the shaking? Sesshōmaru-kun, this Kagome is aware that it is slightly demeaning for one such as you, and apologises profusely for even considering asking, but she can think of no other way to arrange our alliance swiftly – would you follow behind this Kagome and Yasha discreetly until we have departed from Edo?”

Kagome needed to grab Raimei before they left; Rakurai and Jinrai could wait until her next trip through the well, but even though she was well aware that she was beyond proficient with a bow; and that even _touching_ Kodokuso would burn/poison anybody excepting Toga, Sesshōmaru-kun, and herself (Kagome had kept the bow wrapped up when she brought it here so that Kaede wasn't touching it directly), she still wanted Raimei with her – in part because Kagome was not certain that she could reasonably make an excuse to come back to Edo before Toga arrived, and even though it had been such a short time already, she missed him so much it was _beyond_ painful.

Sesshōmaru-kun had been watching her face closely, for any sign that she was deceiving him about her genuine displeasure that such a thing had to be asked of him, since her scent was still being dampened by not only her clothes but her reiki – Sesshōmaru-kun was _pack_ now, and Inuyasha was  not; it should be Sesshōmaru-kun travelling with her, rather than otherwise. He had been summarily convinced, because she really did hate that it wasn't Sesshōmaru-kun travelling with her, but he had lands to rule and could not truly join her quest, and then shot her a _Look_ at the obvious pain that passed through her when thinking about her beloved. She looked upwards and his eyes softened somewhat. He knew the pain of missing a loved one, as well, and although it was not the same kind of missing, it was the same person, so he sympathised with her.

It helped.

Then the group exited; just in time, too – the shaking inside of the tomb was getting more severe by the second. Kagome knew that Toga had little choice about how fast the bones would be absorbed, or about when he could begin; the Kami decided the second, and natural process decided the first. It was still somewhat upsetting that Toga couldn't exit how they were, but Kagome knew that at least that had a Very Important reason behind it. Kagome needed to be accepted and trusted by all of her new pack as their alpha before introducing him to the group; although Kagome hoped that there would at least be _someone_ she could talk to about Toga, because she really needed a male opinion and neither of her stepsons (simply because they _were_ her stepsons, and young ones at that) were suitable conversationalists for _this_ sort of thing.

Somehow, Kagome had a sneaking suspicion that now that the Shikon was roaming free to spread chaos and false power everywhere, she would get the kind of people she so desperately needed in her pack. People she could consider a true new family; something she desperately needed because she would be missing her birth family, whom she had never been far from, something _dreadful_ , despite finally feeling like she was **home** now that she was in the Sengoku Jidai.

But that was for later. Right now they had to make a stop at the well, which they did, and Kagome, shooting a grin and a wink towards a rather curious Sesshōmaru-kun who was hiding himself in the trees, leapt into the well, blue light enfolding her form as she was transported between dimensions. It was time to let her grandpa know about what had happened so far, grab Raimei – Kodokuso was hovering on her mind and pleased that she would have a conversation partner for when Kagome was busy doing other things – and depart on her way.

She had an alliance to make, after all, and a very interesting story to tell her eldest.


	13. Chapter 13

Sesshōmaru-kun's adorable curiosity had been  _absolutely nothing_  compared to Shippō-kun, with whom Kagome not only immediately fell in love, but also immediately adopted exactly in the kitsune way. See, kitsune  _never_ ,  _ever_ _,_ _ **no matter what**_ , left an orphaned kit alone. Full stop. It did not matter what the situation was, if an adult kitsune came across an abandoned or orphaned kit they immediately adopted that kit as their child. It went far deeper than simple culture and into genetic law territory. Their instincts literally  _would not_  let them do otherwise. Kagome's blatant use of kitsune gestures and mannerisms that had begun the very moment she saw the small (and  _beyond_  powerful for his age; having an almost fully humanoid form—the only things were his foot-paws and tail—at only around seven? This boy was probably the son of a daiyōkai kitsune, which were incredibly rare) kit made him intensely comfortable in her presence.

It took her less than ten minutes to have a sobbing, grieving little boy in her arms, clutching at the front of her kimono and letting her know exactly how much he missed his Papa and how unfair it was that he'd lost him and how much he wanted to  _hurt_  the thunder brothers for killing his only family. Yasha had been acutely uncomfortable and left; shockingly enough, however, Sesshōmaru-kun had still been in the area and had, after half an hour or so, approached them, sitting next to her and confiding in the grieving boy that he  _still_  missed his father after two hundred years, and that Shippō-kun was not any less of a strong, good yōkai for his tears.

Kagome had promptly informed Shippō-kun that she would be his new mama, and that this strong, powerful inu yōkai was her eldest son, Sesshōmaru-kun. Sesshōmaru-kun himself had looked an odd mixture of both pleased and nonplussed at that, but when Shippō-kun had forgotten his tears, gasped, and excitedly asked her if that meant that this  _wonderful_  yōkai was his ani-san, then… Well, the expression on Sesshōmaru-kun's face shifted into a pleased curiosity. Shippō-kun was not a barely-controlled hanyō, not abrasive, brash, or rude, was incredibly young and therefore able to be moulded into a pleasing form, and was also kitsune – highly respected amongst pretty much any yōkai breed, because greater kitsune could communicate  _in spoken language_  even when in their true forms, a symbol of how in tune they were with their yōki, reiki, mind, and body.

Sesshōmaru-kun had nodded then, placed his hand upon Shippō-kun's head, and said that if Shippō-kun  _wanted_  an older brother, then of course he was his older brother, since Kagome was very yōkai for a ningen, and was adopting him as was proper. Sesshōmaru-kun had also informed Shippō-kun that his otō-san would be very happy to have Shippō-kun for a son; his father, after all, had taught Kagome how to be kitsune. She hadn't actually told him that, but her Sesshōmaru-kun was  _oh so clever_  and had accurately divined that not only had Toga taught Kagome how to be kitsune, but fully intended for her to adopt Shippō and to take him as another son. And because Kagome had so wisely introduced Sesshōmaru-kun as his older brother, he felt honoured to have a new younger brother and be trusted with him, rather than upset that he had yet  _another_  unwanted sibling.

Overall, Kagome had been inordinately pleased with how this situation was handled, and thanked the Kami for their wisdom and generosity; whether or not they were directly aiding her quest, they had given her the qualities necessary for it, and she was beyond grateful.

\- - -

Miroku was not only hilarious, but much older than his age just as Kagome was, knew deep suffering, was genuinely powerful and talented, even without his kazaana, and was  _exactly what she needed_. Kagome had always wanted an older brother, and after informing the lecherous monk of her betrothal, he immediately became much more respectful in his actions towards her, as her empathy had told her he would. Miroku did not seriously mean any of his advances, after all, and would never even think to touch one who was promised to another, even if that promise was unwilling; considering that Kagome was obviously blindingly in love with Toga, he would be beyond glad to have an excuse not to flirt with her.

Especially when Kagome had told him an edited version of her own story, the story of the Shikon beyond what he knew of it, how it had been manipulating her life to make it miserable, and that she desperately needed someone in her life who knew what it was like to have something all-encompassing and wholly negative hanging over their head. She might not have been hounded by death her entire life, but disaster and misery were nearly as bad, and immediately affixed her in a position of a sibling whom he could not only advise, but confide in and commiserate with.

The Very Important Question she had to ask him only further cemented herself into that strange, mixed position, late one evening a couple days after he joined their forming group. "Um, Miroku-ni? This Kagome has a… Well… Okay, this Kagome  _desperately_  needs some adult advice on something to do with her betrothed. This Kagome is not insinuating anything; she is fully aware that despite your actions you are truly honourable and are waiting for the right person… But you were also raised wisely and are male, plus might have some good advice on… Well,  _logistics_."

He raised his eyebrows at her and patted the ground next to him, leading her to plop down and recline against the log he was currently using as a backrest. "Go on, Kagome-chan. I will help you as best as I can, and you know I will not judge you for your questions or actions; it is not my place."

Her adopted ani-san was vaguely aware of the situation; in fact he was already aware about the fact that Toga would be travelling with them in a smaller version of his true form, and had advised her that yes, she should tell Shippō-kun –  _only_  once Toga had actually joined them, so that he did not accidentally give the secret away due to his excitement. That had actually confused Miroku-ni somewhat, until she explained the genetic imperative that adult kitsune had, and that because their bodies were designed in such a manner, young kitsune responded to any adult kitsune in such a manner once orphaned, no matter how much they still loved and missed their original parents. Kagome might not have actually  _been_  kitsune, but she  _acted_  kitsune, so he responded accordingly, and because Toga had taught her her actions and mannerisms, he was immediately accepted as being as good as kitsune, just like her.

Miroku-ni had been impressed with his new knowledge. Still, now wasn't the time to think about it. "Okay so… You know my katana, Raimei? Whilst wearing it, Toga can become solid; fully so. It is not  _his_  weapon, though – it is  _mine_ , and he is not supposed to be interfering in my quest by defeating Naraku for us – so he cannot wear it constantly. The really important thing for you to pretty much always keep in mind, ani-san, is that this Kagome was  _raised_ _yōkai_. My actions, opinions, attitudes, and outlook have been forever coloured because of that, and due to its position as the vessel of the Shikon, my body is not even truly ningen any more; it is an anomaly."

He nodded at that, gesturing for her to continue, and she steeled herself. It wasn't even  _embarrassing_ , it was just, well… A little  _painful_. "I can hardly bear being apart from Toga right now. My entire being is constantly in pain from the lack of my alpha's presence with me, and despite that we still meet in my dreams at night, that is nowhere near enough contact for one who has been almost constantly around her soul-mate for pretty much the entirety of her life. Until we found out about the machinations of the Shikon that are preventing it, Toga had been going to mate me as soon as he had absorbed his skeleton. We can't be mated – bound to each other – until he is fully regenerated, even though we wish to be. However…"

The monk was wise, intelligent, and  _kind_  – he understood her thought, followed it through, and did not force her to say it. "You can be intimate before you mate, as you are yōkai, and only the fact that he has to be wearing Raimei prevents it from being a reasonable expectation."

Air left her lungs in a whoosh, and she nodded, "Exactly! I mean, he could just… keep his kimono and obi on, but we are inu, body contact is necessary with intimacy. It would be an unsatisfying experience for the both of us if he had to remain clothed, but I can't think of a way other than that, considering Raimei's necessity."

Oh, but the Kami loved her, because her new ani-san was  _exceedingly_  clever! "Then have him use his sash to secure the blade to his back. That will also keep it from getting in the way whilst you are being intimate."

Kagome immediately glomped Miroku-ni and thanked him profusely, kissing his cheek affectionately. "Oh you are just the  _best_ , Miroku-ni! Yes, I knew you could help me with this! Thank you  _so very much_. This Kagome will be informing her betrothed that it was her ani-san who made it possible for us to be with each other intimately before we are able to mate. He will absolutely grant you a boon – although, this Kagome would like to grant you a boon as well… Kind of."

He looked intrigued at that and inclined his head with a gentle smile, "Go on, what do you wish to give me?"

"The ability to talk to yōkai in beast forms. You are plenty strong enough for it, it is only a lack of the right kind of training that is preventing you from being able to talk to telepathic animals and beast yōkai. This Kagome knows how to open the proper channels that make it possible without training, however. This would grant her ani-san the ability to talk to his imōto-chan's betrothed, as well as creatures such as most crows and ravens, predators, rodents, and reptiles; lesser tanuki and kitsune; nekomata and other greater yōkai without humanoid forms; and humanoid beast yōkai in their true forms, if they have beast true forms."

His violet eyes widened and deepened with pleasure as he smiled at her, "I would love for you to do that, Kagome-chan! I have always believed that yōkai are as much to be protected as they are to be defended from – in fact I grew up around tanuki, my best friend's name is Hachi."

Kagome's eyes widened upon hearing the name of his best friend and she laughed in delight. Tanuki living within a specific area did not ever share names unless one of them died or moved away, and in that case the next tanuki to be born in that area with the gender of the tanuki who had left was given their name. Despite being comparatively low-level even when they were able to gain an anthropomorphic form and speak Nihongo, tanuki were  _incredibly_  long-lived, and her own beloved Hachi-kun told her he'd known her from his past, back when he lived where Miroku-ni had told her he came from. "I grew up with Hachi-kun! He has moved from where you were raised to the lands around the shrine where I grew up, and frequently aided me in getting lost for my navigation lessons when I was in his part of the forest. I  _swear_  to you, Miroku-ni, we will go visit where you grew up and go visit your dearest friend at some point during our travels together."

Her ani-san looked very surprised at her response, before chuckling lowly, "It seems you are blessed, Kagome-chan, to meet some of your dear friends through your new friends."

She nodded solemnly to him, quietly informing her newest pack member, "Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama, Ame-no-Uzume-sama, Hachiman-sama, Inari Ōkami-sama, Omoikane-sama, and Susanoo-no-Mikoto-sama have all at one point or another directly interfered in my life or blessed me. Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama and Omoikane-sama were directly responsible for Toga being pulled from the world of the dead a millennium before he was to regenerate and convinced Toga that his interference in my life would not change me from being kind, loving, and accepting, or change the depth of my temper and determination. Ame-no-Uzume-sama persuaded him similarly that changing the world by changing how I was raised would not cause harm.

"Hachiman-sama blessed my quest when I was thirteen years of age, Inari Ōkami-sama blessed me directly for returning a lost kitsune kit to its family – and for adopting Shippō-kun, although I was not aware of that that the time – when I was eight, and a moon before I made my initial trip through the well Susanoo-no-Mikoto-sama blessed me for agreeing, with the full knowledge that I would have to endure allowing my plans to be twisted and brought about in possibly cruel ways, to control the chaos of the Shikon by continuing to contain it rather than wishing it out of existence. He approves of chaos, you see, but only controlled chaos, chaos within limits. The Shikon has nothing limiting it currently, and until it is contained inside my body with my full knowledge and acceptance – as the first time around I had no choice – I cannot control how it uses its power."

Miroku-ni looked more thoughtful than he did shocked, before he quietly, seriously asked of her, "Kagome-chan, why did you not tell me that the Shikon caused your death in your prior existence?"

Oh, shit. Well, she hadn't  _intended_  to keep it from him… She just… Kagome whispered softly, so that in case Shippō-kun was still awake (he probably wasn't, but he was thoroughly kitsune, incredibly intelligent, strong, talented, and his senses were probably almost as enhanced as hers were; so if he was, she had to  _make sure_  he did not find this out) he wouldn't be able to hear her. "Because Yasha was directly responsible for my death in my previous life. You see how he treats me… It was worse the first time around, I was completely unaware of  _anything_ , and fell in love with him… The Shikon separated us for three years before I was allowed to return, he married me and settled down with me… and then after twelve years, met his soul-mate and abandoned me. I… I willed myself to death, because he had me convinced that nobody else could really love me for myself, and had separated me from all of my other loved ones."

Her ani-san pulled her into his lap and held her close as she closed her eyes and controlled her breathing carefully.  _Fuck_ , she wanted Toga, but she was  _so glad_  that the Kami had given her an older brother who could comfort her. "The only reason things are working out for me right now is because the Shikon is too busy enjoying its new power and seeding chaos that it has forgotten Toga and me."

He was, reasonably, confused at part of what she said, "Toga? In what way was your betrothed punished – well, apart from having to wait to mate you? From what you told me it seemed that he was actually given quite an advantage."

"Unless he is wearing Raimei – and now, in his natural form – he has every sense available to him… Excepting touch. He went through the majority of my life being able to hold me, touch me, comfort me, tease me… and not being able to feel a single damn bit of it."

Miroku-ni winced at that and sighed softly, "Truly, that jewel is vile and cruel and needs to be taken care of. I am sad that it must be you who has to contain it, but also glad because you are ideal for the job – large-hearted, kind, determined, and just ambitious enough to make the world a better place without letting greed for power overcome you."

She smiled in thanks and rested her head on his shoulder, just sitting in the night with him for a time. It was later in the year, and despite the darkness, not all that late, unlike it would be if it were summer time. They would go to their respective bedrolls soon; for now they could just enjoy the comfort that only siblings could give.

\- - -

Sango really did not have a choice of joining Kagome's pack once she saw the taijiya's travelling companion – she was going to  _kill_  Toga for not warning her!

"Kirara! Oh, and here Toga had me thinking that I was just going to be missing you dreadfully this entire time and you're right  _here_! I'm Kagome, and no I am  _not_  Midoriko's reincarnation – or Kikyō's – but that vile Shikon was housed in my body until I fell through a well and ended up in this place. It got shattered and thus, it is my duty to complete it and pull it back into containment. You and your taijiya friend absolutely  _must_  join me, we can work far better together than separately, and I could use another friend who knows how it feels to be both female and a warrior – we are so rare in this time."

Kagome knew that the other girl was a taijiya because of her yōkai bone hiraikotsu – it was pretty blatant. Also blatant was the complete and utter stunned shock on her face, especially when Kirara changed to her full size, walked up to Kagome, and sat in front of her, her body – tails included –  _completely_ still. " _You know this Kirara, Kagome? From when? Obviously some time in the future, but how far did that vile thing get sent before it was dragged back here_?"

"Five hundred years from now, Kirara. Only kind of, though. See, the thing is, this is actually my second time doing this quest. The first time the Shikon punished me so badly that it ended in my death. The Kami were most displeased with this, considering that I had rid the world of its tainted, twisted desires, and managed to get rid of Naraku as well, and decided to pull in the one person who could fix things so that they did not turn out the same way again. So, because the Kami are generally displeased with the state of the era I came from, as well as the current existence of the Shikon, I am destined to shape the world we live in in such a way as to change the future. Where I came from split off into a different world entirely the moment I was dragged into the well by the centipede yōkai. Those with close ties to myself and my betrothed will simply regain their memories of the previous world upon reaching the time I ceased visiting it."

Kirara made a thoughtful noise, and her companion spoke up, "Um; you can  _talk_  to her? I thought lesser yōkai with fully beast forms couldn't really speak?"

_Lesser_  yōkai?! Really? What the hell kind of education did taijiya get nowadays?! "Nekomata, despite not having a humanoid form, are  _incredibly_  high-level greater yōkai, taijiya-san. They can communicate telepathically with anyone who has enough power and training; or anyone who has been opened up to telepathy by a miko, monk, priest, or priestess with sufficient power. My ani-san Miroku is a monk who had the power but not the training, but I opened him up, so Kirara will have three people in my group she can speak to, because my son Shippō-kun is a kitsune; yōkai can all speak to their counterparts that do not have humanoid forms or anthropomorphic forms, no matter their age."

She continued, "Furthermore, many lesser yōkai unable to speak ningen languages aloud can speak both in their beast language and telepathically; it's a weird sort of thing because they are speaking their language, not Nihongo; but the mind translates the meaning correctly anyway. This Kagome would gladly open you up so that you will be able to speak to your dear friend and companion, taijiya-san, assuming you would trust her with such a thing. I am a miko; despite not wearing the traditional miko garb."

The taijiya woman blinked, and when Kirara turned back to her and pressed against her side, gave a wry little chuckle, "Well, first off, my name is Sango, Kagome-san, and Kirara seems to desperately desire this, so I will allow it; thank you for offering."

Kagome walked over and placed a hand on Sango's forehead, sliding her reiki and miko-ki into Sango's mind, seeking out the spot that controlled the ability to understand telepathic speech, opening it up, and soothing the opening so that it would not be overwhelming or painful for her newest travel companion. When she was finished, she smiled, "There. You will be able to speak to pretty much any beast yōkai no matter their form, now, and even some intelligent animals capable of telepathy from exposure to specialised ki – yōki and spiritual ki – for the majority of their lives, which is very, very many in this era. When my betrothed joins us in his true form – he cannot take his humanoid form at the moment, because he is not allowed to interfere in my quest – you will be able to speak to him.

"Everyone excepting my hanyō companion will have this ability, because he isn't to know that the inu joining us is my betrothed; my betrothed is his father, and he is so mixed up and torn between so many emotions right now that his appearance as his father would ruin his mental capacity at the moment. He doesn't even really know that I am betrothed right now, because he believes me to be someone else, and the knowledge would tear him apart – I am telling you this all right from the start so that you are aware of the situation as most everyone else currently involved is. Yasha will eventually be told the truth, but not until his feelings for this Kagome have naturally become far more platonic and familial than they are currently."

Sango-san seemed to consider that carefully, before nodding firmly. "I can handle that. Kirara says you are out to get rid of Naraku, and I am as well – Kirara says we are destined to travel together, which I honestly don't care about, but I can talk to my best friend, now, so I owe you a debt. Besides, as you mentioned earlier, it will be nice to speak with and be around another strong female. What weapons do you use?"

She smiled and responded, "Longbow, hunting bow, katana, wakizashi, and daggers. My bows and swords are Fangs, my daggers are yōkai bone with self-replenishing yōki that repels illness, rot, and poison from anything they are inserted into; although they do kill as cleanly as my swords and arrows do."

The taijiya smirked and hummed in approval, "Very nice; daggers mainly for hunting and food preparation, but you can still defend yourself with them – it is always good to have backup weapons. I keep a dagger hidden in my obi as well, for emergencies. I do have a question though – you are a miko, right? How can you use Fangs? I thought reiryoku and hōriki naturally rebelled against yōki?"

Kagome settled herself in for a good, thorough explanation of how ki worked as they walked towards where the others were when Kagome had ran off, having felt Kirara's presence and ordered them all to  _stay right there and wait or you will regret it_. "Well first off, you must understand that with any type of ki, the most important thing is intent. I can use my reiki to do far, far more things than most people think can be done – it almost borders on magic, although it isn't, I just learned how to channel my energy the  _proper_  way, the yōkai way, which strengthens and enhances control of your ki. Anyway, even those with reiryoku and hōriki can, if they will it, make their energy only affect yōki that they wish to be affected, forcing it to avoid any other sort of yōki. However, I do not have reiryoku; my purification ki was gifted to me by the Shikon – a leftover from Midoriko trying to grant the person who is protecting it some manner of defence. I call it miko-ki because I was just a child when I named it and it is an apt enough description – I would not be a miko without this ki."

Her answer was designed to make Kirara ask for her to blow Sango-san's mind, and the nekomata happily obliged, asking them both, " _And what would be the difference between the yōkai way and the ningen way_?"

"Ningen grab their energy and shove it out of their body, which forces their inherent reiki to actually work  _against_  their holy ki – their reiki resides in the whole of their bodies, after all, so pushing reiryoku or hōriki out of their body is pushing it against their reiki. Yōkai channel their yōki  _through_  their body – allowing it to naturally and easily flow through their bones and muscles, into their veins, into their very blood, and  _then_  they push it up through their skin. At which point it has been thoroughly intermixed with their reiki – which, yes, yōkai have as well; all beings in existence have reiki – and so it has not only been  _magnified_ , but it has been stabilised and centred, settling into their body in such a way so that the energy is noticeably strengthened.

"When I taught my ani-san this, he attempted it, and to his amazement found that he could hold his barrier for twice as long as he previously could, only on the first try – not to mention he was able to make a body-barrier instead of only a spherical barrier, which he had not even known was possible. In addition to all of this, the very land we walk upon; grass, plants, trees, all of it, have their own ki that we simply call earth-ki. It can easily be used to help sustain inherent ki sources and re-energise those who are using their ki for long periods of time – or even make it so that they do not need to use their own inherent ki whatsoever.  _Any_  being can use this ki, even if they have no additional ki beyond reiki. Yōkai learn how to use earth-ki as soon as they are able to be taught in any way whatsoever – I learned how to use earth-ki before my reiki or miko-ki, by a significant amount of time, because it magnifies the eventual developed amount of reiki and other ki when exposed to earth-ki from a young age, as its very nature is nurturing.

"Once upon a time, those of us who could protect and defend against yōkai actually  _worked alongside yōkai_  to help deepen the protection and defence of both ningen and yōkai against malevolent beings and those lesser yōkai that are like unto rabid animals. In fact, Kirara, you might be highly pleased to know that my eldest son is none other than Sesshōmaru, Lord of the Western Lands, and he is strongly allied with myself and my pack in general – as an entity, not as its separate components, most unfortunately Inuyasha attempts to fight him every time he comes around."

" _You mean that your betrothed is the Inu no Taishō? Well! This Kirara is most pleased to be favoured by someone so exalted; if he actively chose you for his proper mate, then you would be the first person he has ever become so intrigued by. Neither Satori-sama, the previous Lady of the West, nor Izayoi, the mother of you_ _r_ _other step-son, were really people that Toga loved outside of the times they were holding his sons._ "

Kagome smiled softly, playing with a strand of her hair, "Well, he wasn't given much choice in the matter, considering the Kami tugged on my strongest soul-bond and it happened to drop Toga right into their laps – only to find out that the soul-bond to me was his  _only_  soul-bond. Yes, he fell for me on his own, but without the soul-bond tying us together as soul-mates he probably would not have found me so attractive when he watched my previous adventures the first and second time around."

Unbeknownst to her, Sango and Kirara exchanged a few comments between themselves about how she was humble and why it was a good thing for one so obviously a leader. Especially someone who had a far more glorious destiny than she seemed to realise – that humility would do the entire world in good stead, and was no doubt one reason why she had captured the attention of the Inu no Taishō himself.

Meanwhile, Kagome was smiling softly as she led her newest companions to her group, unaware of and uncaring of how much she had changed the future already just for the initiative she had taken in creating her group and settling people into their positions rather than allowing it to form by chance. Oh! "Oh, Sango-san! You need to be aware of something. My ani-san is very wise and very wonderful, but he is also a complete lecher. Please feel free to punish him as you see fit for his wandering hands, but please also forgive him and understand why he does such things – he lives with death quite literally in the palm of his hand, and takes pleasure in life where he can find it, despite that his pleasure is not quite acceptable. He does not mean his advances; you will know if he is serious about pursuing you because he will lessen them or even stop altogether – at least towards the person he is interested in – so take him with a grain of salt and do not hate him for how he was raised, please."

Sango was nonplussed at that, but she ended up laughing, warning Kagome that her monk brother might find himself facing her hiraikotsu far more often than her palms.

Amaterasu smiled down, eagerly looking forward to what other changes would be happening in this journey.

\- - -

Translations:

Ani-san – older brother in a respectful tone due to the -san rather than the more affectionate -chan.

Otō-san – father.

Similarly okā-san is mother, imōto (-chan) is little sister, ane (-san or -chan) is older sister (respectfully or affectionately), and otōto (-kun) is younger brother. Aniki also means older brother and ane-ue also means older sister.

Taijiya – yōkai slayer/hunter

Hiraikotsu – literally "flying bone", basically a bone boomerang.

Nihongo – Japanese as in the language. For Japanese as in the culture the word is Nihonjin, for Japanese as in Japanese person the word is hōjin, which literally translates to "fellow countryman/men".


	14. Chapter 14

" _That whelp needs to have his mouth washed out and his tongue permanently affixed to the roof of his mouth, seriously!_ "

Kagome hummed softly and responded to him silently, as everyone who was allowed to speak to him did, " _Would you prefer it if I sit him every time he uses language wrongly? I will warn him now that it will begin to happen, so it won't be something he does not deserve._ "

Her mate sighed beneath her and Shippō-kun; her youngest son was taking an afternoon nap in the thick ruff of his father whilst Kagome rode her mate's back. They were travelling towards where she felt a couple of shards, and Toga was both amused towards and wary of this encounter. Kagome had a sneaking suspicion that this was one of her last-time-around suitors they were about to encounter. " _Yes, please, Kagome. It is simply too much for this Toga to be able to stand listening to when he is so used to more cultured and far less offensive people. He can accept that this is not_ _Inuy_ _asha's fault entirely, but_ _being_ _surrounded by people who do not act as he does, he ought to be learning better by now!_ "

So she did. "Inuyasha, you had better listen to me and listen to me well."

That stopped the hanyō in his tracks – when she used his full name he was  _in trouble_. Their relationship was already sliding towards platonic, especially because the clay Kikyō that had been created before Miroku-ni joined them – and really, that had not been as big of a deal as anyone thought, but only a select few people knew she wasn't actually Kikyō's reincarnation – kept coming around them. She was clearly aware that Kagome was not only  _not_  her reincarnation, but that Kagome was aware of that fact, betrothed to someone who was not Inuyasha, and no threat to her personally. Kagome rather felt bad for Kikyō and had sought her out once and asked if she would rather be sent back out so that she  _could_  be reincarnated truly, but the clay miko had said the Kami allowed her to be brought back for a reason, so she would serve her purpose.

Kagome had a strong respect for Kikyō. She might find the miko to be too obsessed with the Shikon and with Yasha, but she wasn't really a danger to them right now.

"Yeah, we-um. Yeah, Kagome?"

Oh, good, he just avoided being sat again. Kagome  _had_  already made certain that any time he addressed her by a degrading or otherwise unpleasant term (and because of the  _way_  in which he used it, bitch counted, although being inu like she was, it was actually an appropriate thing for her to be called), he would get sat. He mostly called her Kagome now. As Kagome had hoped would happen, Toga's ire towards his youngest was lessening when experiencing him – in part because he could tell that the poor hanyō's instincts were just  _so_  tangled up. Kagome was working on that now, teaching him how to interpret actions and instincts by  _showing_  him how he was supposed to do so. Toga could handle the majority of the sword lessons and culture lessons, but Kagome was going to be his mother, and so she was teaching him how to act and how to be able to trust those parts of him that had until this point only barely kept him alive.

"Your incessant use of crude language is beyond unpleasant, upsetting many members of our party, and frankly is entirely inappropriate considering that you are in the presence of a  _child_. From now on, any time you use unpleasant or crude language in a manner which is not simply for extra emphasis or to properly express extreme upset or anger, you are going to get sat. I was hoping just being around people who do not speak and act as you do would help, but it isn't helping whatsoever, so I will force you to learn by using the beads. I highly suggest you listen to how the rest of us speak and take cues from that; I know you are far more intelligent than you let most people believe, so I fully trust that you can learn even without the use of the beads."

Two voices simultaneously congratulated her in her mind on not only threatening him but encouraging him with praise as a way to try and direct him towards positive behaviour. She would have flushed if she wasn't so composed, and promptly rebuffed their praises, then went back to awaiting his response.

And then she got the surprise of her life when Inuyasha turned towards her and plopped onto the ground – looking up to her exactly as a berated teenage pup would to his mother. What on  _earth_? "This… This is what I'm s'posedta do, right? I've been thinkin' a lot lately. Sesshōmaru accepted you real easy even though you're ningen – or at least you look it, after more thought I realised you don't smell ningen. You never actually said you were Kikyō's reincarnation, you didn't even insinuate it; Kaede did an' you didn't seem too happy about it. Not t' mention that you'd've  _changed_  if you were actually her reincarnation an' part of her was torn away. It'd hurt like hell an' you'd lose whatever part of yourself she took t' give herself emotions. An' once I started actually payin' attention to how you treat me, it's more like how you treat Shippō, only less like a kid."

He looked down for a moment, released a gusty breath, and said quietly, "I never noticed th' yōki in your aura until a couple days ago, Kikyō pointed it out t' me, an' it matches  _his_  yōki."

He pointed to Toga, and then continued, allowing for her to interrupt if she wanted; but she was genuinely curious as to everything he'd realised and how it came about. "If I was mixed up and twisted around – like I was before Kikyō got pulled from you – noticin' that would really've killed me, so I'm glad I didn't. An' I s'pose that since he was dead before, he can't be in his other form right now, but I've seen Sesshōmaru's true form, an' they look awful similar. Kagome… you're my stepmom, right? Or you will be eventually? An' you were just waitin' for me to be all less mixed up and more settled before you told me, but you've been treatin' me right from the beginnin' like an inu mom would treat a son. An' I just wanna say thanks for lettin' me figure it out on my own an' not forcin' me to accept you or anythin' like that, an' I'll do my best t' learn what you're tryina teach me."

" _Inuyasha, you saying that to your new mother is the second most unexpected thing that has happened to me in my life – the first was being abruptly pulled from my resting place to interfere in Kagome's life. You have just done your blood proud, son. There is much you have to learn, but this Toga is much happier to be in your presence than he was previously, because you have in such a short time shown remarkable growth and maturity. You have just earned the right to have my presence before my regeneration completes, and I will be aiding your mother in your lessons._ "

Not even bothering to say stepmother, because since it had been so long and Kagome was acting as a birth mother would, Izayoi didn't really fit into this situation at all.

This  _did_  rather explain why the last time Sesshōmaru-kun had visited them, Inuyasha had surprisingly not attacked him. And as for Sesshōmaru-kun! He now had an  _adorable_  little girl following behind him, which Kagome knew for a certainty was Rin, especially when she saw the helpless adoration in his eyes whenever he looked at the quiet child. She spoke; just sparingly. And as Kagome's beloved Rin-chan in her world, she spoke in third person – it was the most adorable thing  _ever_. When they saw Rin, both Toga and Kagome had expressed a strong pride in Sesshōmaru, and he had had so much pleased warmth in his eyes that Kagome really did think that he was coming to see her as a mother; and instead of being aggravating, amusing, or weird for anyone, it just  _fit_.

Yasha flushed and scratched the back of his head and then asked, "So, that makes Shippō my little brother, right? Can I teach him stuff? Like, the kinda stuff that kept me around an' shit; hidin' an' tree-walkin' an' scentin'? I know that eventually Dad or Sesshōmaru'll hafta take over, since I'm only hanyō, but since he's so young right now, an' Dad's stuck like that an' you're busy tryin'a make sure we get all the shards, an' while Sesshōmaru visits a  _lot_ , he's got his lands t' patrol…"

Kagome slid off of Toga and sat in front of Inuyasha, taking his hands in hers and squeezing them. "I would be most pleased if you could teach Shippō-kun some of the basics of fending for himself, Yasha; just try to curb your language! You just now proved you can do it when you try, and I expect you to try from now on, Yasha. Yes, it's easier to fall back and express light aggravation or impatience with crude language, but it takes more strength of will to learn when is the appropriate time to use expletives and only use them then, instead of using them constantly. And don't attack your ani-san; instead maybe ask him if he could teach you a few basics of how to use your sword so you aren't accidentally risking harming innocents. I bet he'd be amenable if you ask politely and call him ani-san or Sesshōmaru-ni."

Her middle son looked at Toga then, and then gave off a wry little laugh, "Lemme guess, Dad wants the pleasure of beatin' my sword lessons inta me once he's got his body back? So Sesshōmaru'll only be teachin' me enough to get by on, rather'n everything he knows?"

Kagome cleared her throat, and said one word that made everyone – even Toga – scram. "Privacy."

For once, Yasha was the one she was asking for privacy with, and Kagome said softly, "I am possibly about to hurt you very badly, Yasha; not because I want to, but because you have to understand some things about your father and his attitude towards you. The first thing you need to know is that he is my strongest soul-mate, I am his  _only_  possible soul-mate, and he had to watch the entirety of what I am about to tell you."

White ears flicked nervously, before falling back a little, "Lemme guess… Somethin' happened once an' you got hurt cos of it? An' it was my fault somehow."

A sorrowful look crossed her face – despite his brash abrasiveness and crude behaviour, he really  _had_  been getting better lately, and she was able to see why an innocent her could have fallen for someone like him; only, this time around that love was purely familial. "This is the second time my soul has done this quest. The first time, the Shikon decided that a good revenge for me wishing it away would be to have that Kagome, who was desperately in love with you, thought nobody else could love her, and had abandoned everything she had grown up with to be with you, end up alone and heartbroken. You cared for her, but did not truly love her, especially not to the extent that she loved you, but you stayed with her because you believed her to be the reincarnation of Kikyō. Twelve years after marrying her, you met your soul-mate and left that Kagome alone. She willed herself to death, which is literally the only way it is possible for any iteration of Kagome who has housed the Shikon to die naturally."

His claws were currently digging into the grass, his whole body was tense and bordering on shaking, and he quite obviously was doing his damnedest to keep from crying, so Kagome moved from sitting seiza – her natural position; it was far more stable than sitting any other way – to sitting cross-legged, opening her arms with a soft growl.

Inuyasha might not have been trained and raised properly, but some things were all too clear, and he choked, rushing her and burying his face in her shoulder. After a while of simply crying with so many emotions tangled up that Kagome couldn't even begin to unravel them, he asked, his voice begging brokenly, "Please… tell me I didn't… I couldn't… I didn't know, did I? That you'd… Did I do that-"

Kagome growled softly and scratched behind his ears, shaking her head, "No, you had no idea whatsoever, Yasha-kun. You thought that since I could visit Sango, Miroku, and Shippō-kun that I'd be fine."

" _Fuck_ , thank you for not telling me it like that."

Kagome was confused for a second, and then realised – in order to spare him from the complete pain of it she'd spoken as if it were someone else, instead of herself as she was now. He was thanking her for doing so. Kagome rather thought speaking as if he had directly hurt her personally – someone he had just accepted as his  _mother_  – would be overkill and cruel. Kagome was not cruel, and while Yasha still had so many things that needed to be fixed about his expression of his self and his instincts, in his heart he was not a bad person. He was just a mixed up boy who'd never gotten a chance to be raised because his mother died early and he was forced to survive on his own in a  _very_  hostile world.

" _Toga, love, please come here, our son needs you._ "

It was a risk, but a calculated one. Toga still held a ton of resentment towards Inuyasha… But one look at this sobbing, choked up boy (yes,  _boy_  – Yasha-kun was not even really properly a teenager in his mind right now; his grief was built up and pouring out of him for far more than just the realisation that he had, in his previous existence as himself, killed someone that he should have loved), his ears flat against his head, broken apologies falling from his lips would firmly change him from "Inuyasha" to "Yasha-kun", like it had for her. Well, okay, probably just "Yasha" – Toga had never been one for suffixes unless it was a formal situation. Kagome, however, reserved the right to use any that she pleased. And  _all_  of her sons were "-kun" in her mind.

Never mind that they were  _all_  physically older than her by at least five and a half decades. Mentally, Kagome was  _well_  out of her teens, at the very least into her mid twenties, and all of her children were in their teens or childhoods. Sesshōmaru was definitely late teens, but desperately in need of affection. Inuyasha hadn't had any semblance of a good childhood once he'd been fully orphaned, so he bounced back and forth between being childish and being a young teenager, with bursts of maturity that showed he could grow up to be a great man if he was just educated properly.

Shippō was definitely a child, but he was far more mature than his actual age belied – that was a kitsune trait, though. They were naturally wise and cunning and intelligent. He could be pulling silly, childish pranks, climbing all over you and begging for attention, or he could be making comments that grabbed everyone's attention because they were so accurate and fitting that they should  _not_  be coming out of the mouth of a seven-year old kit. Whilst simultaneously clinging to her hair and perching on her shoulder or head in a blatant demand for cuddles.

Toga appeared, although he was walking forward slowly and cautiously, but she knew the  _exact moment_  that he actually saw Yasha-kun. " _Oh, my poor boy._ "

Her betrothed enlarged himself and slid down to lay in front of them, Kagome shifted so that she and her middle son were pressed into his fur whilst he growled in comfort and acceptance – he couldn't before, because Yasha-kun hadn't  _known_ , wouldn't have  _accepted_ ; but now he knew, now he accepted, and now he felt guilt so immense that if it weren't for Kagome and Toga it would probably break him. Suddenly Kagome felt her eldest nearby, and she warned him away with a slight flare of her reiki. She didn't mind if he  _saw_  – it would probably be a good thing and make him more sympathetic if he could see Yasha-kun as a truly  _little_  brother, like seeing Shippō-kun cry had done for him earlier. But he couldn't approach in a way that Yasha-kun would notice him. She felt him pulling in his yōki even more tightly – good, smart Sesshōmaru-kun, that way he could see closer without breaking up what was happening.

Kagome was  _also_  aware of the exact moment when Sesshōmaru-kun shifted from tolerating Inuyasha as a pest that he couldn't help be related to into truly accepting Yasha-kun as his little brother, and all it took was a choked and heartbroken "I'm so sorry Mom, I'm so sorry Dad, I'll do my best, I promise, to make up for what I did last time."

Such an enormous change from the person he had been a sennight ago, and a sign to Sesshōmaru-kun that not only was he intelligent enough to learn, but that he was only the way he was because he had no positive influences in his life. He was willing and eager to change, and truly sorry for his actions affecting his pack negatively.

For the first time, Inuyasha was actually being  _inu_ , and his visible grief and genuine wish to change firmly affixed Yasha-kun as Sesshōmaru-kun's middle brother. When Kagome sent a look in his direction he stepped from the trees enough to give her a nod and an affectionate, if wry, grin, before turning around and leaving – no doubt to go be with Shippō-kun who would likely be feeling a little bit left out now that his papa had left him alone.

She had Toga send him a sincere thanks, and then returned her attention to combing her fingers through Yasha-kun's hair and scratching behind his ears, growling in acceptance of his apology – he  _needed_  this right now, far more than he needed ningen platitudes. He needed things that spoke to his deepest, strongest inu instincts.

Kagome certainly had never, even in her wildest imaginings, expected something like this – but she

supposed that this only proved that at his deepest heart, her middle son was a kind, loving person, who just did not know how to properly interact with people and interpret his instincts. He wasn't inherently cruel, or truly intentionally hurtful just to  _be_  hurtful. He just reacted in screwed up ways to his negative emotions; making sure someone you loved wouldn't abandon you like you were afraid they would did not make abuse right, but it made sense if you'd never been taught better.

By the time Yasha-kun had composed himself, she gave a look to Toga, one asking for him to join her in a bit more of a direct support than he had been giving so far, despite the pain it would cause him, knowing he could not just do this whenever he pleased. It took a while decide – although that was probably because he wasn't sure if he wanted Yasha-kun to correctly deduce what was going on whenever they went off alone – but eventually he gave her a nod and pulled away.

Before Yasha-kun could do anything, she pulled Raimei from her obi and Toga transformed; half-visible and lacking solidity (they weren't on Higurashi Shrine grounds, after all) until the moment he grabbed hold of Raimei's hilt and slid it into his own obi, promptly sitting down and pulling Kagome – and thus Yasha-kun as well – into his lap, wrapping his arms around both of them and growling, before saying softly, "We forgive you, Yasha. You are very clearly not the Inuyasha who drove the previous Kagome to her death, and you would not only never do that to this Kagome but could not do so even if you had been the same type of person. It is time that this Toga lets go of his resentment and treats you fully as his son; not as the other existence."

Then, much to the surprise of both Kagome and their son, he chuckled wryly and spoke, very obviously not to them, "Amaterasu-sama, Omoikane-sama, Uzume-sama, Inari-sama, Hachiman-sama, Susanoo-sama, is this more like what You were envisioning for this journey?"

" _Yes!_ " echoed through all their minds, as each of the Kami took turns speaking.

Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama spoke first to them, her voice serious more than filled with its usual amusement. " _The well will be closed by the Shikon within another moon; so Kagome desperately needed a new family – the Shikon for once is not working to punish you. It truly believes that at the moment you have been punished enough, whereas last time around, Kagome had experienced far less emotional and physical pain in her life_."

Following her was Omoikane-sama, " _The clay Kikyō went so far as to allow Naraku to "accidentally" find out that Kagome was not her reincarnation; which the Shikon was unaware of. Half the reason for punishing Kagome had been to punish Kikyō from taking it from the time period where it could cause the most chaos_."

Susanoo-no-Mikoto-sama continued on with their information dump, " _The well will be closed because Naraku will learn of it and decide that taking over this other place is preferable to a place where he has to fight so much to take over,_ _due to how much stronger this Kagome is_ _. The Shikon, of course, knows that it will be more difficult to seed chaos in that dimension, since_ _the worse_ _lesser yōkai, those mindless, violent animals, have largely been driven to extinction there. Because shards or a direct connection to Kagome are all that is necessary to travel to the well,_ _he would be able to go through it_ _if he tried to_ _._ "

Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama spoke once more, " _In answer to your question, little Kagome, your family and friends will not notice any time passing from the moment you cease your visiting them and when they shift over to this universe – they will not suffer. Unlike the last time around, you are an experienced adult now; previously you needed your mother's presence to keep you sane. This time you just need a family._ "

Inari Ōkami-sama laughingly asked Kagome, speaking to them all, " _This One believes it is suitable for you, Kagome-chan? Three sons, an older brother, and a heart-sister – not only larger than your birth family, but nothing like it whatsoever, so that similarities will not pain you unduly._ _Not to mention a powerful and intelligent_ _daiyōkai_ _kitsune son who is practically custom-made for you._ "

Kagome smirked and rolled her eyes, "Not to mention that oh, quite possibly Your blessing is why this Kagome is so damn kitsune to begin with, hmm? Someone wanted to make especially sure that one of Their own had a suitable mother, didn't They?"

The Kami just giggled and spoke to Yasha-kun, " _Do not feel slighted that Kagome favours Shippō – she has little choice as she received_ _M_ _y blessing when she was but eight years of age, and_ _M_ _y blessing inevitably makes people favour_ _M_ _y beloved kitsune more than they would naturally; plus, being younger, she will have to raise him far more directly than you. This_ _O_ _ne expects you to be able to react and respond maturely to such favour, Inuyasha._ _Being a middle child is difficult, especially when all three siblings need a good amount of raising despite the disparity in their ages. Help your new mother out with the raising of your little brother and that will mean she has more time to spend on you as well._ "

Yasha-kun thought about this, before nodding. "Plus Shippō can't even really remember  _his_  first mom; at least I can remember my first mom. Yeah, she didn't manage to raise me right, but that wasn't her fault, she didn't know crap about yōkai and instincts and shit."

Hachiman-sama was the last one to speak, and his voice was thrumming with pleasure, " _I firmly believe that it will take around half the time to end this threat to My people than it did the first time around. This situation is beyond ideal._ _We shall leave you now,_ _O_ _urs, and before you fear; whilst we hoped for this outcome, we did not cause it to happen – Toga can confirm that this is the same group as it was the first time around, only this time Kagome brought it about_ _on her own_ _rather than it forming by chance._ "

With that their Divine audience left them, and Yasha-kun looked at Kagome a little curiously, "So… Why aren't you upset with Inari Ōkami-sama's manipulation? Ningen generally can't stand being manipulated."

Kagome shrugged, leaning against her mate. "Toga raised me. Well, kind of. It was more like he was grooming me for the position of being his future Lady, or, if I decided I preferred a different place in his life,  _a_  Lady in the court he will be taking over after Naraku is ended. Besides, I'm not actually a ningen. I'm effectively immortal, and even in my previous existence took a far more yōkai outlook to many things than I did a ningen outlook. You  _have_  to realise by now that I shamelessly and blatantly manipulated you when we first met in order to gain your trust. And I do not regret it at all – although a large part of that is for a while you treated me like shit, and the rest of it is that now I have another son."

He blinked and groaned lightly, "Oh  _Kami_  please tell me this ain't some yōkai thing I was unaware of until now. Last time you told Shippō t' call that girl travellin' with Sesshōmaru "ane-chan" for a reason, didn't you?"

She burst into giggles at that, remembering when she asked Toga damn near the same thing. "Toga fell in love with me twice before I was ever even born, and Rin-chan is the first person to ever love Sesshōmaru-kun for who he was for no other reason than just because she wants to. There is no prior relationship or familial bond tying them together; she just utterly adores him, and while right now he adores her as he would a child – not a daughter, just a child pack-member – yes, it will grow into more as she matures. He doesn't really have a choice, anyway; they're soul-mates, much like Toga and I are. So no, it isn't some yōkai thing – I asked Toga the exact same thing when I was thirteen.

"Now, we'd best get going; it's been a while, I'm beginning to get hungry and wanna go hunting. There are an enormous amount of prey animals in the forest, even the large and medium ones; the ōkami around here must be eating something else, I  _know_  there are some ōkami yōkai around here and I really hope they are the same ones that ate Rin-chan so I can force them to  _stop eating ningen_  at the threat of an extremely slow and incredibly painful death by purification. Oh, by the way, Toga, you owe me a bite."

Yasha-kun was incredibly confused at that, but Toga understood immediately – Kagome had divined that the shards they were nearing were a suitor the last time around, and Kagome wanted to make sure that she had  _proof_  that the yōki threading hers was a claim that could not be denied. This time, instead of Sesshōmaru witnessing Toga marking her as his intended, it was Yasha-kun, as Toga leaned over and bit her left ear. Soon, in the shell of her ear, there was a fang with his yōki embedded into it. It could not be removed unless it was by Toga or herself, and only if they were completely willing under their own control. As she felt it, she envisioned it in her mind and decided that she  _definitely_  liked the piercing. It was her only one, but that fact made it even more of a statement – there were other ways he could have marked her as her intended; she chose the most visible, undeniable, and yōkai one possible.

"Toga, is this Kagome correct in assuming that there will be an abduction involved in our next encounter?"

"Oi, hey, we'd never-"

"Yasha-kun, please."

He sulked a bit but settled back down against her shoulder. Toga smiled and responded with strong amusement colouring his voice, "Yes, in fact, and considering that last time you managed to get him to promise to cease preying upon ningen even without knowing about Rin or having to threaten him with purification, this Toga was planning on allowing the encounter to happen as it naturally does – of course, with the difference being that you will probably finagle a trip returning you to us out of the ōkami in question and the betrothal piercing will prevent him from coming onto you constantly whenever we run into each other. He is strong, trustworthy, loyal, and a good leader. If you could convince him that the shards he holds would ultimately bring danger to his tribe and/or that relying on them will ultimately weaken him because he cannot strengthen his natural abilities if he is using them, it will prevent a highly unnecessary slaughter and could give us a strong ally – not just against Naraku but for our future; he is the prince of his tribe, and betrothed to the daughter of the Elder of the Northern Tribes, Chōrō-san."

Ooh, that really  _would_  be a good alliance – they would support Toga's claim to the Southern Lands once he killed the current leader and took his place. Considering that Sesshōmaru-kun would support him as well, there would be nobody actually able to contest that he won those lands fairly and it was now his right to rule. Not even if the Northern Lands themselves held some residual enmity over Ryūkotsusei – they would not risk going against anybody with ties to both the Western Lands and the Northern ōkami tribes. Not to mention, considering his position and that she was aware that the Eastern Lands had no actual ruler, this ōkami prince was likely as close as it came to an Eastern Lord… Yeah, she'd work on an alliance with him too.

And, if Kagome was reading between the lines correctly, this ōkami prince was either running away from this betrothal, or not fully aware of it (it could be a childhood promise – many yōkai made them and forgot about them), and if Kagome could get him to be interested in this princess again, then they would owe Kagome a debt. "Hmm... I think I would very much like to meet this daughter – is she around my age, love?"

Oh, and she could tell that he  _knew_  where she was going with that query and that he was beyond pleased with her initiative. "Yes, indeed, Ayame is. You would probably find her to be a good friend, if a bit young; Sango is beyond passable for a ningen female but truly you need more experience with yōkai females. Ōkami do not have the best hygiene, but they are a good example of yōkai who wholly live by their instincts, both controlling them and letting them remain in the forefront of their actions and minds. And they are the only greater yōkai whose members that cannot assume a humanoid form live alongside the members who remain in humanoid form – to the point of many of them not even having a beast form unless they surpass a certain amount of yōki power."

Kagome nodded, "After I am returned, we will go meet the Elder of the Northern Tribes; he deserves to know that his old friend is alive once more, even if not able to take on a humanoid form at the moment. It would be best to secure his alliance before we begin fixing the Southern Lands. Now, let's go; I'll fetch us our dinner, Yasha-kun you go help Sesshōmaru-kun with Shippō-kun, let the tachi know exactly what the direct plans are so none of them try to come after me, and ask Sesshōmaru-kun if he would be available to travel with us to go meet the Northern Tribes; his support of Toga's endeavour will sweeten the deal, especially when I convince this ōkami prince that this Ayame-san would be an incredibly suitable mate and someone who could help him protect his pack even better.

"While you go do that, Toga will go grab Rakurai and my quiver. You, dearest, need to practise restraining your yōki more fully, especially in this era. It is best to be underestimated; the third lesson you ever taught me. So you will be my mount for this hunt instead of me using the trees as I usually do. There truly are an overwhelming abundance of prey animals in the forest. It's disgusting that these ōkami prey on ningen but I'll definitely fucking fix that."

At that her son and mate left her to centre herself, mask her scent, muffle her sounds, and pull in her ki to the point where she might as well have been a rare void yōkai, with no detectable ki whatsoever. Her mate needed to learn how to do this now that he had a physical form – he had to relearn how to do essentially everything after five centuries without having a proper physical form. But he was intelligent, she could aid him in his learning, and she had full faith that by the time his regeneration was complete, the most powerful daiyōkai to ever exist would once more be roaming the lands of Nihon at full power – considering how long he had been alive, despite only being a ghost, he was far more powerful than before.

But now it was time to hunt.

\- - -

**A/N:**  I had expected Inuyasha to take well to the lessons, but his complete and utter acceptance of the situation – not to mention his  _reaction_  to finding out about his previous existence – was so totally unexpected. The warning about him changing positively a few chapters ago was written as soon as he began bawling his eyes out over causing her death last time around in this chapter. XD I normally don't edit my author's notes, I keep them as is so you guys see my thought process during the writing of the story, but felt it necessary so people don't assume this whole fic is Yasha-bashing.


	15. Chapter 15

Well, being kidnapped was certainly an, uh,  _interesting_  experience. She couldn't even slap the fucker who was carrying her for molesting her, because the only way he could hold onto her was grabbing her hips and ass with her slung over his shoulder like she was. He was probably going to get  _stung_  when he set her down, though. Maybe she'd even go so far as to full on  _zap_  him. Meanwhile, she made conversation because aside from the manhandling he'd been quite intriguing – and all the wildlife in the area that were intelligent enough to speak to her (prey animals like sika, serow, and boars were stupid and not worthy of conversation, seriously; but birds, reptiles, some rodents, and predators were, even if they weren't developed enough for sending telepathic speech) praised his leadership. "So, using shards to augment your speed? That really is a shame – you seem like you're beyond powerful enough you shouldn't need some pitiful jewel shards from a false, twisted, possessive power to augment your abilities."

They had reached the caves by the time she said that, so his entire pack that was in the cave heard her words, and as he cautiously set her down and looked at her, he asked – not demanded, thankfully; he saved himself from a zap – what she meant by that.

"What I mean is that I was born with that vile thing in my body. Do you want to know what it did to me, just because I was housing it without ever having a choice? It made my alpha invisible and when he gained a semi-solid form, stripped his sense of touch from him. He is inu. It caused my father to begin refusing me any sort of affection whatsoever only a short time after I turned three years old – as I was raised as one would raise an inu yōkai child, you can imagine the devastating effect this had on me. It is currently forcing my betrothed to wait until I take care of it before he can regenerate himself, despite the fact that we should have been mated as soon as I was fifteen.

"Oh, and, not to mention, if you keep those shards in your legs, I can promise you that one of Naraku's incarnations will come and slaughter all but about eight members of your tribe, you will be able to do nothing about it, and will spend the rest of this year trying to avenge your tribe, but ultimately fail because your enemy will have far more jewel shards than you and is shamelessly cheating, allowing the vile Shikon to seed chaos as it wants, and oh, also, he will take your chance for revenge away by killing the person who slaughters your pack before you can do so yourself.

"Before you ask, I know this because this is the second time I have done this with my soul and body. The first time I was able to wish the Shikon away – and it reached through time and ended up creating a circumstance that broke me so thoroughly that I willed myself to death. Tell me honestly, after finding this out, do you really want to keep something like that anywhere near your tribe? Not to mention my first point still stands – you are young enough that if you focus on controlling your yōki, restraining it, using earth-ki and reiki to enhance it, you will become faster than you ever could with those jewel shards, and I have it on very good sources that you are already the fastest ōkami to exist right now – not even Ayame of the Northern Tribes can beat you, can she?"

He plopped down onto the ground and two humanoid ōkami came to sit beside him, one with silver hair covering his head in something like an overgrown buzz cut, with a black patch standing up in front. The other one had a startlingly intriguing white mohawk, and Kagome immediately decided that they would make great younger brothers for her – as would this ōkami prince, if he wised up and listened to her. Fortunately for everyone involved, ōkami did not just use strength to measure ability for leadership, and soon he ripped the shards from his legs and his arm and handed them to her, before promptly asking, "Alright – you might look ningen but you sure as shit don't act like one, or, after a second take, smell like one either, so I'll treat you like a yōkai. What do you want? And I want proof of your betrothal, please, just so I know you aren't tricking me, because frankly you'd make any yōkai a damn good mate. That's why I kidnapped you."

She smiled and nodded, pulling her hair back to the side so they could see the fang piercing her left ear. "The yōki threaded through mine matches the inu yōkai travelling with my pack – not the hanyō, he is my stepson by my betrothed. As is Sesshōmaru, Lord of the West. Toga is simply, as I stated earlier, being prevented by the Shikon from regenerating wholly at this moment. We have measures where he can become solid in his humanoid form for periods of time, but as he is not supposed to be interfering in this quest anyhow, this is as ideal of a situation as we can expect."

Before he could faint at her implications, she stated, "My name is Kagome, and you are? Also I am taking a trip to see Ayame-san, my beloved wishes to arrange an alliance with her father, and I think it would be a very good idea for you to try an arrange an alliance of sorts with her or her father as well – if you can unite the largest ōkami tribes, imagine the sorts of things you could do. The Eastern Lands are powerful, but they are fractured and not working at their whole strength. Just from feeling your aura and experiencing your intelligence it shows me that you have the ability to unite them and turn the Northern and Eastern Tribes into an entity that nobody would dare contest."

The blanched look on his face had turned into a flushed sort of pleasure – he was being thoroughly praised by the future mate of the Inu no Taishō; despite the fact that he had just  _kidnapped_  her. "I'm Kōga, these scoundrels next to me are Ginta, with the patch, and Hakkaku, with the mohawk. We'll go with you to travel to the Northern Tribes Elder, I think I mighta made some sorta promise when I was a kid to that Ayame chick, so that'll be a plus if I did, but that's something that benefits  _us_ , and even returning you to your pack ain't enough payment for the favour you did us in letting us know what'd happen if I kept those shards. So, what is it you want?"

" _Stop eating ningen_. The forests surrounding your territory are overflowing with boars, serow, and sika, to the point the surplus is damaging the habitat. You don't need to eat ningen anyway, plus my dear little friend and Sesshōmaru-kun's ward Rin-chan was eaten by your pack and had to be resurrected. He really holds no enmity, you don't have to worry about that – he is yōkai after all, and until very recently would have congratulated you for culling off some of the stupider members of society. However, beyond just being a repayment for me I will let you know something – as a second favour you can let any yōkai who preys on them know this – ningen actually weaken your bodies when you eat them because they carry diseases and imperfections in their blood that yōkai bodies are not designed to handle. Eating lesser yōkai, game animals, and fish is what your bodies are designed to do."

"This Kōga swears on his blood and on his yōki that neither he nor any member of his direct pack will ever prey on ningen again."

Oh  _good_. Not just a promise – but a yōkai Vow. If he reneged on the Vow his blood would turn to fire in his veins until the Vow felt he had been punished enough for breaking it, and his yōki would become unmanageable for a fortnight afterwards, effectively leaving him helpless. His entire pack, or at least representatives of all the families in his pack, must be in the cave for him to do that or he could suffer from them unknowingly breaking the Vow – and it was smart of him to say his  _direct_  pack; he would not be punished for additional members who were unaware of this new rule breaking it.

Then Kōga turned towards her, his light blue eyes shining with excitement, "Now, if you can say, this Kōga would adore knowing why the Inu no Taishō is seeking an alliance with the Northern Tribes."

Kagome had to smirk at that. "We have heard that the Southern Lands are suffering under a cruel Lord, and the Kami Themselves decided that my beloved would be the perfect replacement. We have his son's support – if we gain the support of the leader of the Northern Tribes as well, then nobody will be able to contest it."

"Oh, thank  _fuck_. Kagome-sama, you need to know – the Southern Lord is  _not_  a beast yōkai. He is a fire elemental turned bad. Nobody knows what happened to give him greed and ambition, but he is really horrible and needs to be taken care of before he runs those lands permanently into the ground. Regardless of if you gain the support of the Northern Tribes, you have my  **full**  support. The Eastern Lands don't have a proper lordship, and I'm what comes closest to it; so even without him you'll still be uncontested."

Oh, fucking  _hell_. No wonder the Kami wanted Toga to deal with this. The Western Lands had been completely ravaged by famine, drought, and war when he inherited them, so he was well used to this kind of situation. " _Toga, koi_ _shi_ _– the Southern Lord is a Kamidamned_ _ **fire elemental**_ _. Nobody knows what gave him ambition and greed, but he is killing the land. Kōga has offered us his support regardless of if the_ _Northern Tribes_ _support us – he is clever, strong, intelligent, and loyal; as well, I checked around with some of the animals on the way here – his pack is actually even_ _ **larger**_ _than the_ _Northern Tribe's main_ _pack –_ _not the collective amount of the Northern Tribes, plural, but the main pack is_ _significantly_ _smaller than his_ _. Also, he not only promised, but gave me a yōkai_ _V_ _ow that neither he nor any member of his direct pack will ever hunt ningen any more as prey._ "

"Give me a moment please, I am communicating with my betrothed about the situation with the Southern Lord."

Kōga nodded, but Kagome heard his two companions whisper to him (none of them knew her senses were enhanced, after all), "Can we ask her to be our ane-san, Kōga?"

He whispered back that only if it was because they admired Kagome-sama herself, and not because of her son and her mate, to which they furiously nodded their heads. At that, he whispered to them that he wanted to ask the same thing, so once she was done they would ask that to be the terms of the alliance.

She was having a hard time hiding her pleased smirk while she listened to Toga – shockingly enough the entirety of the tribe was staring at her now, and she realised her lover was showing off, damn him. Oh well, this was just more proof of her honesty – only an incredibly strong daiyōkai would be able to telepathically communicate with a group of beings this large from such a distance. Strong yōkai could project to a good number of beings from large distances but Kōga had an  _enormous_  amount of ōkami in this cavern. " _Well damn, no wonder the Kami thought I needed to be the one to take over – yōkai elementals are usually very secluded and_ _either_ _loners_ _or live in small groups_ _, when they develop qualities like greed and ambition it always ends badly because they are ridiculously overpowered. Thankfully for everyone involved I know how to deal with fire elementals, and the fact that the Kami allowed me to keep my yōki means I have the power of_ _five_ _centuries_ _in addition to the millennium_ _and a half, or more, I wasn't exactly positive of my age when I died,_ _from before then – no yōkai alive is as old or powerful as I am._

" _You might not know this, but when a proper daiyōkai takes over the lands, he bonds them to him with a ritual – the stronger and more controlled his power is, the faster the very earth itself is able to recover from the previous mistreatment._ _Not just the plants but the animals, ningen, and yōkai who live upon those lands as well._ _Since elementals cannot_ _inherit, attain, or_ _gain daiyōkai status, only beast yōkai can, they cannot aid their lands in this way or prevent the lands from going to r_ _uin because of_ _mistakes they might make._ _Not to mention, because their minds are simply not designed to comprehend negative emotions like anger, greed, lust for power,_ _and jealousy,_ _when those anomalies develop they take over the elemental completely and_ _eventually_ _destroy their sanity._

" _Kōga; this Toga would ask that as a part of your alliance with my future mate, you offer up any shards you come across – not just for your safety, but because the sooner the Shikon is restored and disposed of in the way_ _my betrothed_ _plan_ _s_ _to do so, the sooner I can challenge the Southern Lord and begin renewing the lands. I shall leave you be now; I will see you when you return, little one._ "

Kagome huffed but grinned, "I'm not little any more, you ass! Just cos you're like the size of a fucking mountain. Hmph."

She sent it mentally just to make sure, but he would have known her reaction anyway – to be fair she adored the nickname, it made her feel small and sweet and precious. She just didn't like being called that  _in public_. Sighing, she turned to Kōga, Ginta, and Hakkaku with a smile, "So, alliance – you offer us any shards you happen to come across, do your best to protect innocent ningen against other yōkai, and support us in this war against Naraku. In return for that we offer to aid you in any confrontations you have with the being called Naraku and any of his incarnations. My eldest also will give his aid in resurrecting any of your pack who die in confrontations with Naraku, his puppets, or his incarnations; you guys in here – listen the  _hell_  up  **right now**. Sesshōmaru-kun has a sword that can resurrect the dead – only once, but it can do so once. The length of time that lapses between his arrival and the time of death matters greatly, but he has an incredibly fast means of travel, firstly, and secondly  _if_ _you_ _fight_ _your_ _death_  it takes longer for the messengers of the dead to take your soul into the afterlife.

"Not to mention, the reason that my betrothed's fang was able to create such a sword is because he has an inherent ability to resurrect people – this ability is unlimited, unlike Tenseiga. So even if you have had Tenseiga used on you, do not give up when you are dying. Yes, his current humanoid form is only half-solid, and only that much so when on specific lands; but I have a Fang that allows him to assume a wholly solid form, with all abilities and attacks intact. His purpose here is not to interfere with my disposal of the Shikon; thus why he does not simply keep my Raimei on his person at all times. But if we can get to you in a reasonable amount of time, which we likely can, you do not have to just give up and die when you are injured. My wakizashi Jinrai heals injuries and illnesses, as well, and you can be assured that if you call out for Toga, I will be following behind unless there is something really big going down."

The tribe all, simultaneously, and very much to the surprise of Kagome,  _howled_  then, and soon she was mobbed with four-legged ōkami and humanoid ōkami and completely surrounded.

Dude; what the hell was going  _on_?

Finally she was left almost alone, quite dazed, as Kōga sat behind her and held her back against his armoured chest, Ginta and Hakkaku each to one of her sides – oh, they had kept her from falling over! That was quite kind of them. Seiza was stable but even it could not hold up to an enormous mob of ōkami attacking you for seemingly no reason. Before she could ask what the fuck had just happened, Kōga softly stated, "This Kōga's pack has accepted you as backup alpha, with his full permission. If this Kōga is ever out of commission, this pack will obey your orders just as they would his own. Because your care for our life and our health is beyond anything that we thought possible from one who was not of our own kind, and you are worthy of the position. This Kōga welcomes you, and wishes to know if he and his pack might address you as our sister?"

"Um. I. Wh- Uh… O-kay?"

It had been a very long time since Kagome had felt overwhelmed, but that was definitely the feeling plaguing her now. Alpha of an  _enormous_  ōkami tribe in addition to her own small pack? Holy  _shit_. Backup alpha, yeah, but being backup alpha was more of an honour than any other position barring alpha itself. It meant that the tribe implicitly trusted you with their safety, health, and order in a situation which would cause  _their_   _own alpha_  to be taken out of being able to command them.

If the Kami were interfering again, Kagome was going to  _pitch a_ _fit_. So, she did the only thing she could, "Amaterasu-Ō-Mi-Kami-sama, would You happen to have anything to do with this? Because You do realise that if You are behind this I reserve every right to pitch a royal fit at You for interfering directly when You are not supposed to be interfering any more until the Shikon has been taken care of."

A tinkling laugh responded to her words – one which stilled every single ōkami in the cave and made them stare at Kagome. She could care less about the staring – seriously; Kagome had  _enough_  on her plate already. This was a huge honour but it was also a huge responsibility, and she had a  _ton_  of those already! Killing Naraku and his incarnations that couldn't be swayed to her side, saving Kohaku, helping Kikyō fulfil her destiny, gathering the shards and making her wish on the Shikon, and then helping Toga take control of the Southern Lands and rule them well, not to mention, oh,  _shaping the whole of Nihon_  so that hanyō, yōkai, and ningen all survived into the future intact and mingling amongst each other freely instead of any race hiding themselves.

" _I promise you, little Kagome, that This One had nothing to do with these particular happenings, despite Her admitted fondness for Her wonderful ōkami children. But She is beyond pleased because this means that there is a much stronger chance of ōkami surviving into the future, instead of becoming extinct as they are in your previous world. It wasn't just the Eastern Tribe that Kōga dearest rules that gets slaughtered because of the machinations of Naraku; the Northern Tribes suffer similarly, and maybe with this alliance and your background leadership the ōkami yōkai will not find themselves lessened by over half their previous population_ _in less than a year._ "

Kagome thought that over seriously, recalling her lessons on endangered species and unnatural wildlife extinction. Ōkami yōkai had literally been completely wiped out by her era, and even their their animal counterparts became extinct around a hundred years before she was born. Ōkami yōkai were already suffering a disadvantage compared to normal yōkai – only the alpha pair of a tribe and one other pair of mates, differing each year, were allowed to have cubs – yes, they almost always had several, but even so, that was a disadvantage. That was why the ōkami yōkai existed in many tribes; otherwise they could not reasonably procreate. And yes – ōkami were by  _far_  the most numerous yōkai out there, but less than half of them could actually take a humanoid form at all, and of those that could, probably only an eighth of them could take both humanoid form and beast form.

Kagome was under no delusions that her education as a child had been anything less than grooming for a position of total leadership and ruling. And not just of the Southern Lands. The Kami fully intended for Kagome to be the driving force behind creating a Nihon where ningen, hanyō, and yōkai coexisted peacefully and happily together –  _with_  the land, not fighting it every step of the way. Hell, Kagome knew that half the reason ōkami ate ningen was because they didn't want to end up decimating the prey populations in their areas, not realising that it would be really difficult to do despite their numbers, especially since they could also eat the mindless beasts that lesser yōkai were.

If Kagome took an older sister and backup alpha role to both Kōga and Ayame, that would mean that any time one of the Eastern or Northern wolf tribes needed aid, she could give it without incurring a debt that they might not be able to pay. Especially because, unbeknownst to anyone excepting Toga, Sesshōmaru, Sesshōmaru-kun, the yōkai who forged Raimei, Kagome, and the Kami Themselves, Raimei could  **only**  make Toga solid because it could also resurrect the dead. Twice, in fact. So even without Toga's presence, their allies had three chances of surviving a fatal attack or poisoning.

"S _ister, the others of us without voices to speak with as our two-footed brethren_ _do_ _have decided that they wished for me to speak for them. This place you came from has no_ _ōkami_ _? Even our less sentient brethren are gone?_ "

She nodded slowly and solemnly, "We have some in zoos – basically a place for people to see wild and endangered animals in safety where the animals are provided for without having to scrounge for food and try to live in a society where ningen have destroyed the land around them… But none in the wild. Not all over the world, just in Nihon and a few other places. Part of the reason I am here now instead of over there any more is because the Kami want me to prevent such a thing from happening."

" _If that is the case, then y_ _ou have the support of every_ _single_ _ōkami_ _in our natural shape, in all the tribes_ _in Nihon_ _. We will_ _force_ _this alliance_ _you will be seeking with the Northern Tribes_ _if we must._ _It is not known outside of ōkami, but as our backup alpha you have earned this knowledge – those of us in our natural forms are actually more powerful than those of us with only two feet, unless they can shift between forms. Our Kōga is nearing that point, and you are very right – using those shards would have prevented him from making that next step, possibly permanently. We owe you many great debts, and offer you our support even outside the alliance. Would you be amenable to having one of us permanently travel with your group_ _and eventually reside in the shiro with you when you live there,_ _so that you can learn our ways and thus to not make a mistake that could be avoided in the case of if you ever need to act as alpha for us_?"

Kagome was, frankly, stunned beyond belief – especially when Kōga took one of his claws and pierced her  _right_  earlobe, in a strange diagonal to her betrothal/mating piercing. Instead of a thick fang piercing her ear, there was a claw inserted into her ear – an animal form claw, not a humanoid form claw. "That marks you as a backup alpha and a protector of our kind. Alphas do not wear these, because it is clear we are supported by our furred brethren. This makes it clear that any ōkami yōkai will support your decisions, even if they do not overtly seem like they will work directly for our benefit. I will willingly give you one of my brethren – or one of their family members if it is decided one from another tribe will do better – to educate you in our ways, our culture, and our ideals; as well as our instincts and behaviours.

"That can  _wait_  though. Ginta, would you carry Kagome-ne piggyback, I feel that will be far more comfortable than riding over my shoulder again, and I need to focus on picking the best member to become Kagome-ne's companion. No doubt she is feeling overwhelmed and needs to be back with her family and her betrothed. So we will take her home, camp a suitable distance away, and tomorrow decide if we even need an official alliance any more due to her new position in the pack. Certainly she has the support of the majority of us whether us two-feet want to give it or not."

He chuckled wryly at that and helped Kagome mount onto Ginta's back, and then they were off. They didn't travel anywhere near as fast as they had previously, but part of that had to do with the fact that Kagome's vial – on a spider-silk necklace that was enchanted in such a way that it could not be removed from her person without her willingness, unless her mind was not her own, in which case any wholly sane and in control member of her pack could remove it – had two more shards in it. That made a dozen now.

She was well aware that he was still travelling slower than possible, but as he was making an incredibly serious decision, conferring with the other members of his pack ( _every damn ōkami was with them_  – Kōga was apparently taking no chances that this absence would result in the slaughter of his tribe), it made sense, and Kagome wryly wondered if she would  _ever_  stop having lessons in her life.

\- - -

Translation:

Serow – a type of goat-antelope native to Japan.

Sika – a type of deer native to Japan.

 **A/** N **:**  Sika are the primary large game animals in Sengoku Jidai Japan. For smaller game animals there are boars, serow (they are protected in the modern era due to over-hunting, but plentiful in the Sengoku Jidai), rabbits, hares, martens (similar to sables and weasels), pheasants, tons of chickens (both wild and domesticated), and of course there is tons and  _tons_  of fish and seafood. I fully intend on being as accurate as possible in this fic as to how they eat in the wilderness areas they stay in since there will be no ramen noodles, nope! I know that that's sort of a staple IY thing, Yasha loves ramen, but it just doesn't work in this fic.

Contrary to how I am treating that aspect, however, the whole Amaterasu-sama/wolf thing is not actually based on any Japanese folklore. Unlike Inari Ōkami-sama, whose messengers are foxes and thus is usually seen as a patron deity (Inari Ōkami-sama is portrayed as both genders, depending on who is writing Them) of kitsune, traditionally Amaterasu-sama has no particular animal She is connected to; She is simply the sun Goddess.

It  _is_  however based on a really rad video game called Ōkami in which you play Amaterasu-sama in the form of a wolf. I have decided to integrate this into my fic as Her being very fond of ōkami. It's fairly minor (at least right now) and probably (hopefully) will not change anything; Kagome's the one changing everything!

Yes, I realise that a deity with Ōkami as part of Their name being a patron of  _kitsune_  rather than  _ōkami_  is a bit strange. Idgi either, but hey, what culture says, goes. Maybe part of it has to do with Them having no specific gender and kitsune traditionally being shapeshifters? -shrugs-


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:**  First and last warning:  **there is sexual content in his chapter**. There will  _possibly_  be sexual content in future chapters – there will be no more warnings after this  _unless_  it is a situation where it either seems like it will be happening and does not, or if there is a strong amount of world-building or character development involved in/surrounding said content. There is  **definitely**  world-building and character development both intermixed and intermingled with the sexual content in this chapter, but it is nothing super important and will  _p_ _ossibly_  be mentioned outside of this chapter so you can just skip it if you want to – although I'd suggest you read through anyways, compared to some stuff out there it's fairly tame.

* * *

"I swear to Kami, if you say one. Fucking. Thing. About this, Toga, I will sleep alone with Shippō-kun for a  _fortnight_."

Everybody in the camp immediately stared at her and sat down slowly – Kagome was Not Happy and that was a Very Bad Sign if she was threatening her  _alpha and betrothed_. She  _never_ _ever_  did that. The silvery-white inu stopped in his tracks, saw the newest piercing, immediately realised the problem, and padded away from the camp to where there was a second clearing. Then he exploded outwards, taking on a size about a third of his full size, and Ginta, smart boy that he was, let Kagome down. At a comforting growl, she ran over to Toga and slid underneath his chin, curling into a ball and burying herself in the thick fur between his forelegs until nothing could be seen of her body.

He moved his legs so they were crossed at the paws and rested his muzzle on them, telling everyone else, " _She will be fine – it is just quite a bit to take in, even for one as mature as she is._ _Despite being raised yōkai, she was still born ningen and is only fifteen ningen years of age, physically._ _It would not be so bad if the responsibility was shared with this Toga – but his sweet little one earned this all on her own merits._ _Kōga, if you and your ōkami would hunt, there are at least seven herds of sika and four packs of boars,_ _and quite possibly as many serow as the two combined. A_ _s well, there is another clearing on the opposite side of this one, you have to go into the forest a bit to find it, but it should provide a good camp that is as close to a cave as you can get_ _in a forest_ _._ _We can talk in the morning – it is not yet evening, but this Toga will be taking his mate away for the night once she is_ _able to be moved_ _. Sesshōmaru,_ _Yasha_ _, would you_ _two_ _sleep with Shippō in the absence of Kagome_ _and myself_ _?_ "

It didn't matter that they were not tied to each other yet – they were mates in every other way that mattered, and so Toga could call her that if he damn well pleased. A surge of warmth associated with tears soaked into his fur when he called her that, but he could tell that for the most part they were tears of relief – if he was calling her his mate it meant that firstly, he was not going to make her weather this new development alone, and that secondly, he would distract her mind from being overwhelmed by overwhelming her body repeatedly once she was calm enough for them to leave the group.

Kagome might be the alpha of this group, but they were travelling in the Western Lands at the time—the Eastern Tribe that Kōga was prince of bordered Sesshōmaru's lands, as did the Northern Tribe they would be visiting soon—and now that Sesshōmaru had someone in his life who would mother him, as well as the chance for a true family, with both parents and the addition of younger siblings, he visited them often. He was definitely an alpha and when he was around and Toga and Kagome were away, he took charge of the pack. When he wasn't, Miroku would be taking that position due to him being their beta – Yasha had alpha potential but ever since finding out what had happened the last time around he had been acting significantly younger. Far more mature and subdued, but at the same time much younger – more like a fifteen year old in the other dimension, not a fifteen year old in this era. A just-barely-fifteen year old at that.

When Kagome had tentatively asked him if he was okay and why he was acting how he was, he had bluntly informed her that if he had a mom and a dad, and wasn't alpha and didn't have to keep watch over everyone, he could let himself act like he would have ages ago if he hadn't been just trying to stay alive. So they just accepted that and enjoyed the drastic change in his personality and actions. Normally Yasha did  _not_  sleep with them. Kagome, Shippō, and Toga slept together, but Yasha still had a thing about being on the ground at night. He would sleep more frequently now, but he still slept in trees. However he could make an exception for a night, especially because his instincts were beginning to untangle themselves and become interpreted right – his little brother needed him, so his natural phobia would lessen in order that he could be there for Shippō.

Soon the ōkami had dispersed, his mate's pack were busying themselves and talking over potential battle exercises so that they became used to working cohesively, and Kagome was whining softly in such a way that he shifted back to his humanoid form, slipped Raimei into his obi, picked her up, and ran off to the closest cave he could find. Once he was there he pulled his mokomoko-sama off and laid it on the ground, before gently placing Kagome onto it. Her eyes, normally cerulean, shining, and bright with happiness, excitement, determination, or adrenaline, were a dull, hazy blue that was intermixed with grey – she might have handled the changes fine whilst they were happening, but it hadn't taken long for them to wholly overwhelm her and send her into a state of just being unable to think.

Toga would fix that and make her feel better though. The first thing he did was divest himself of his obi and armour, then his kimono, hanjuban, boots, sashinuki hakama, and fundoshi, taking his long obi and using it to secure Raimei to his back so that he was still solid, fully so, but nothing was in the way. Then he began fixing his sweet little songbird. Strong, callused fingers traced across her face, down her neck, and underneath the edges of her hanjuban and kimono, as he leaned close to her and breathed against her ear. He had to make sure she actually  _could_  hear him before he went about convincing her of things she needed to know.

It was slow going – on purpose. Kagome reacted negatively from being woken up from a mind-cloud rapidly, it just sent her straight into fear. This wasn't exactly a  _frequent_  occurrence – Kagome had more willpower than to have any overwhelming thing send her into a mind-cloud – but it had happened before a few times, and whilst the measures he had taken before were different, since Kagome had been younger then and they hadn't been  _together_ , Toga's instincts still told him what to do to help his little bird wake up and stop feeling so overwhelmed.

He undid her obi methodically after a few minutes of getting her used to his chaste touches, then folded it and set it aside, before parting her hanjuban and kimono open – not fully, just to the point that there was a long strip of bare skin going down to her hakama. His claws trailed over the skin there, fingertips grazing the skin and rubbing circles into it as he began to place soft kisses on her earlobe and the edge of her ear up to his betrothal marking and piercing; open-mouthed kisses so that he could continue breathing on the skin there, just making her aware of his presence but not forcing her to pay attention to him if she wasn't ready.

She was watching him, though, which was a good sign. Her eyes were still far more grey than he liked, but the blue in them was deepening as his hands began to rub over her stomach and sides, his large palms massaging the skin as his fingertips traced gentle patterns around where they touched. When his claws tentatively grazed the underside of her breasts – in such a way that it could have been an accident – she made a soft noise that was  _definitely_  encouraging, and he began to trail his tongue along the edge of her ear between soft murmurs. "I love you so much, precious Kagome. You aren't alone, koishi. You have training and you will be getting more to help you with this and I will  _never leave you_. You can handle this, sweetling. You know the Kami never dump more onto you than you can handle, and even beyond that, I trust so very much that you can do this, little one."

The entire time he was firming his strokes, moving his hands up and down her body, parting her kimono and hanjuban more to bare her breasts so that he could lightly massage and squeeze them. Toga didn't  _have_  to be gentle with Kagome – not at all – and he wasn't worried about hurting her; but one reason he had wanted the gentle Izayoi was that Toga simply preferred not to be rough in his lovemaking. He might have been yōkai, but he'd never truly enjoyed the roughness and violence that most beast yōkai added to their sex unless he was in a bad mood.

Oh and how his beloved Kagome responded to his body, his hands, his mouth. She told him, after their first time making love just over a fortnight ago, that she had never felt so cherished or treasured as she had when he was loving her – and that was  _exactly_  the point. It was called  _love_ making for a reason.

Of course, it was distinctly different with Kagome than it had been with any of his previous partners – one, because she  _was_  yōkai-raised, not ningen any more, and did demand a little roughness sometimes; the kind of roughness he truly could not help because he was not ningen and his idea of gentle and loving was different than that of a ningen's. He had always had to be incredibly restrained and to keep his passions tightly leashed with Izayoi for fear of accidentally hurting her or scaring her off – she might have loved him despite his being yōkai, but she did not love him  _because_  he was yōkai, unlike Kagome.

Kagome truly was perfect for him though, as evidenced when he scratched a little harder than intended and she hissed in pure pleasure, a soft whimper lacing her words, " _More_ , please!"

Toga could not deny his precious one anything she wanted and so he obeyed. She had heard his words, was processing them, and now needed a distraction from the rest of the world around them – he would give it to her. He scratched harder this time, whilst lightly biting his way down her neck and over her shoulder right to the edge of her collarbone – which he promptly moved to, biting until he reached the inside of that side, and moving downwards. He bit and kissed his way to her breast from there, and when he attacked it with his mouth she was mewling in delight, especially when he lightly bit her nipple and twisted it between his teeth.

_Some_  males might dislike what was called "foreplay" in Kagome's time, but oh, to Toga it was the best part of everything. Making your partner come undone, watching them unravel beneath you into a mess of pure pleasure and knowing that  _you_  caused that. The sheer power of it was addicting.

It wasn't long before Kagome was crying out and begging for more, more, more, and he sliced her hakama off – they would repair themselves when he tossed them aside – and entered her ready and eager body, which brought about a choked, pleasured sob from her pretty little lips.

Of course, such a gorgeous noise necessitated some delicious kisses, and soon, before he had even begun moving inside of her, she could hardly breathe, was panting softly, and her eyes were fully blue again – a deep midnight shade that she only gained when her body was physically pleasured at its fullest.

Toga was intending on making them turn  _near-black_  today. He hadn't been able to before, but he hadn't known her body as well before, firstly, and second, he hadn't really cared to do that to her before. But today it would be the best kind of distraction from her new status – and, simultaneously, the best  _reward_  for earning the respect of the most powerful of the ōkami yōkai in such a way that they had crowned her backup alpha of every pack in existence in Nihon, regardless of if she was aware of that pack's existence or not.

All ōkami who could only speak telepathically or in their ōkami language could communicate with each other no matter the distance, and Toga was well aware that as soon as Kagome began talking about the shards, one of those ōkami had opened up their mind to all the most powerful ōkami in the other tribes, so they could listen and judge. He was oh so very proud of his darling one that she had impressed the most populous yōkai in such a way, and he would reward her for it today.

She murmured his name and he mouthed her ear, informing her of how proud he was of her, how much he loved her, how much he desired her, how amazing she was, just as he began to move inside of her. Of course, his movement overwhelmed her so much that she couldn't respond to his words, especially not when his hands began doing the things she liked best to her breasts. So he continued informing her of exactly what he felt about her, exactly how perfect and beautiful and strong, deserving and worthy and wonderful, stunning and amazing and delightful she was.

Kagome had never,  _ever_  truly had low self-esteem in this iteration of her life, but Toga was careful when she was growing up to save his praise for not only when he completely, one hundred percent meant it, but for when there was no way for her to deny that he meant it fully and with all of his being. Because Kagome in any iteration was humble and while she could take pride in her skills, she tended to dismiss praise out of hand. Oh she would accept it prettily, she had been taught to do so from a young age, after all, but she would not really think about it beyond a shallow gesture.

Not so with Toga. When Toga told her something it was the absolute truth even if he abhorred telling it to her, and she knew that to her deepest being, just like she knew that he would never leave her and that he existed to love her and for no other reason.

And he was  _proving_  that he meant it to her – not only with his body but with his yōki as it caressed her body, her reiki, her miko-ki, teasing and cajoling and completely overwhelming her form in every way as he filled her and pleasured her and told her every positive thing he felt about her in that moment.

The entire time, he was hovering above her, pressing against her, and looking into her eyes, so that she could see how much he meant every single word, so that he could see her eyes darken in first shock, then insecurity, then acceptance; over, and over, and over again. Every word shifted that gorgeous midnight colour darker, just as did each touch, thrust, and kiss.

It really didn't take as long as he'd thought it would to turn those eyes nearly black – or for them to fill with tears that were caused by nothing but delight and pleasure. He timed her release to come along with his, because his Kagome was not one to accept being repeatedly given such overwhelming delight multiple times when her partner hadn't received the same treatment, so that was the  _first_  thing he had learned about her body, how to make her come undone and how to delay it for long enough that they could finish together whenever they made love.

Of course, if Toga truly wanted otherwise, Kagome would accept it, would allow him to overwhelm her repeatedly before even beginning to think about his own pleasure, if he thought about it at all, but it was not something he would do with any regularity or frequency. Giving her some release for stress-relief, yes, that would be common, but not wholly overwhelming her.

Kissing her with all the love he held for her, Toga pulled her body against his and manoeuvred them onto their sides upon his mokomoko-sama, running his hands along her sides and back, hips and ass, thighs and breasts – he wasn't done with her yet, not by any means, but he was allowing her body to rest a little before he made her unravel again. "Do you believe me, precious little one?"

Kagome nodded softly, rubbing her cheek on the arm that was pillowing it, her arms wrapped behind his back wherever Raimei wasn't touching his skin and holding tightly onto his shoulders as she pressed her body intimately against his, her legs twining with his own. "How could I not, Toga? You never lie to me, especially not with your body. I can do this and you will help me do this. But not yet. Not tonight, because tonight is for us alone."

They did not get to have time alone as much as a normal couple might, because as alpha, Kagome could not just take time away from her pack whenever she pleased, especially because of their youngest son. As soon as Toga had arrived with their pack, however, he had spirited her away for three days, leaving an amused Sesshōmaru in charge, and then spent the entire three days learning his Kagome's body thoroughly. It had been decided that they would take her most fertile days away for themselves, but outside of that, they would only snatch pleasure when they could afford to.

Of course, Toga knew how to make his little bird finish within a very short amount of time while still leaving her feeling wholly sated, so whenever she was stressed out he intended on giving her some physical pleasure to help rid her of some of that stress – it was no hardship on him to wait, truly, and he had made Kagome fully aware of that; hence why she would accept him pleasuring her alone without taking care of himself in times of stress.

He pulled her closer at her words and kissed her lovingly, growling happily. "My sweet little one, my perfect little bird. It truly is a good thing that you do not require as much sleep as ningen do because I do not plan to go easy on you tonight. I might not let you sleep at all, koishi."

The pleased shudder that ran through her body was all the answer he really needed, but her breathy, "Oh, yes, please, Toga! Keep this Kagome up and drive her so high she cannot think all night long, just like you like to do to her!" was oh so very encouraging.

Kagome might not submit to anyone but him, but she gave herself to him  _so_  very prettily and perfectly.

So he gave in to her plea and proceeded to drive her body to dizzying heights of pleasure repeatedly, all night long. She could think about her newest duties tomorrow. Tonight was for love and desire.

* * *

Translations:

Obi – a sash to tie kimono and yukata closed, usually between ~3.5 metres (11.5 ft) and ~4 metres (13 ft) in length. Both Sesshōmaru and Toga have quite obviously  **much**  longer obi than this, and whilst the men themselves consider them to be obi, they are really sashes, not obi – and yes, an obi is a sash, yadda yadda; it's a  _kind_  of sash. They are no longer obi at that length. Seriously, they are absurd. (And I love them. XD)

Kimono – okay we all know what kimono are, but essentially it's a front-closing T shaped robe that closes at an angle so as to give it a v-neck. Kimono are long-sleeved – if it has short (comparatively; if the sleeves are above the wrist) sleeves it is a yukata!  _Yes_  I am having Toga wear a kimono rather than a haori, there is a type of fold called a shirikarage fold that allows for a kimono to be worn tucked into hakama without any bulges in the hakama or the obi. Sesshōmaru wears a haori though, just because I like having him wear haori.

Hanjuban – a juban is a kimono-like undergarment worn to keep the fabric of a kimono or yukata from touching the skin directly; to reduce sweat absorption/stains. Often more than one layer is worn, a bottom layer called a hadajuban meant to absorb sweat, and then one or two other layers (or up to seven more in formal use) to further protect the fabric of the kimono – with yukata only one juban is typically worn, if any are at all. Anyway; a nagajuban is a full kimono length juban. A hanjuban (han being half) is a knee-length juban meant usually for knee-length yukata or being worn with hakama under one of the various types of shirts that existed back then. Being more informal, Toga only wears a hanjuban hadajuban rather than more layers. Sesshōmaru is the same way, mostly due to learning from his father. Kagome wears a hanjuban instead of a nagajuban both because she wears hakama beneath her kimono and because she doesn't feel the need to waste fabric on a nagajuban.

Sashinuki hakama – the particular kind of trousers that billow out and tie around the ankles that are worn by many of the main cast males. They are either starched or yōki enhanced to make them billow so stiffly, but yeah, there ya go. Normal hakama do not tie around the ankles and are loose and flowing to allow freedom of movement. Not that sashinuki hakama allow any less freedom of movement, just saiyan.

Fundoshi – men's underwear in that era. It is essentially a thong, only more complex to put on and take off. I am way too lazy to describe how to do so.

Hakama – a sort of very loose and billowy trousers, that allow the wearer to move freely and have probably  _way too much_  fabric. They tend to be very wide and are ankle-length. Kagome wears regular hakama instead of sashinuki hakama in this fic.

Also no, Kagome  **does not**  wear undergarments. Her breasts are not large enough to need bound by the long strip of fabric called sarashi that they have instead of bras, and what passes for female lower undergarments in the Sengoku Jidai is basically just a tight miniskirt called yumoji. Since she did not bring with her a large supply of panties and bras, she really doesn't feel the need to wear anything under her kimono and hakama. It is convenient for Toga so he agrees with her.


	17. Chapter 17

Not allowing Kagome to sleep had ended up being impossible – largely because right as dawn came he finally forced her into a completion so overwhelming that she just passed out from pleasure and exhaustion. It was rather amusing and an  _incredib_ _le_  compliment to his skills that he could do that to her. Toga was very smug over this development as he dressed his beloved, removed Raimei and dressed himself, placed the sword in his mate's obi, and laid next to her in a form large enough that she was practically buried in his fur, just like she liked.

When she woke up from her nap, she yawned and nuzzled closer into his fur, murmuring nonsensical repetitions of how much she loved him before she finally truly woke up. Of course, when she woke up she actually just buried herself further into his fur with pleased little growls of happiness and contentment. It truly was astounding how much she adored his true form. He didn't force her to do anything or rush her movements – it was still very early; not for  _them_  but he knew damn well the ōkami never did business before lunchtime. They weren't lazy – ōkami were just half-nocturnal, like their less sentient counterparts. And really, Sesshōmaru could care for the pack in their absence, he was intelligent and capable.

Toga rather thought the frequency with which they left their eldest in charge of the pack was severely changing his outlook on any perceived favouritism with his middle brother. Especially when just a few days ago he had asked why he had been given Tenseiga, Kagome had scoffed and asked him why should he even want Tessaiga when it would only weaken him, and he had looked to Toga and found nothing but agreement in his body and expression. Sesshōmaru didn't  _need_  Tessaiga, it would just disable him and prevent him from growing stronger. Yasha, however, was a hanyō, he had a natural limit to how much he could grow and plus could not manipulate his yōki the same way a full yōkai could. Not to mention, that sword had been intended to reside inside of his body for his entire life, full stop.

But still, even had he had the same mother as Sesshōmaru and simply a ningen father, Yasha never would have had the acid or poison his elder brother carried, just like he did not have any of the electricity or life-manipulation abilities that Toga had. Some hanyō could carry genetic abilities and manifest them, but only if their parents did not have as enormous a disparity in power as Toga and Izayoi had had, or as Satori would have if she had ever "lowered" herself to have a dalliance with a normal ningen. It was only if both parents had a similar amount of power and strength – it did  _not_  have to be ki strength; something as simple as an incredible strength of will would do as well – that the hanyō could manifest blood-given abilities.

Neither of them knew what kind of existence their pups would have – Kagome was not ningen, so their pups honestly might be full yōkai. Or incredibly powerful and balanced hanyō. Or some new kind of being entirely. But that wouldn't happen for a while. Toga had temporarily shifted his body so that his seed was sterile, since they couldn't be having Kagome pupped before things were settled with the Southern Lands, as much as he wanted her to be a mother even now. They had to make the world a safer place for their pups before they could create them.

Toga turned his head as Kagome slowly pulled herself out of his belly fur and sighed, climbing up his leg and burying herself in his ruff with soft, content little growls and whines. Kami, but he loved his Kagome so much. " _Enjoying yourself, sweet little one?_ "

" _If I didn't like what you did to me last night so much I would probably genuinely wish that you never had to leave your natural form_."

That...

**Wow**.

Before he could say anything, his koishi spoke up again, her voice demanding and curious, " _Tell me true – what do you consider to be your true self? The humanoid mask you wear so that you can function among ningen and defend your lands, or this form, in any size?_ "

He didn't even have to think to answer her question – almost any yōkai with a form aside from their humanoid forms would answer the exact same way, even if they had not been raised in that form. " _This form is my true self, of course. It does not matter what I look like on the outside, I am an inu and always will be. Nothing can change that._ "

She settled further into his ruff – he thought maybe she was rubbing her cheek against his fur – before responding. " _Your humanoid form is beyond pleasing – handsome, strong, charming, wonderful in every way – but I am always, no matter what, constantly aware that it is a mask. It is a cover. The Inu no Taish_ _ō_ _is not my Toga._ _ **This**_ _is my Toga and has always been my Toga. Even when I was unused to sleeping with your furred form, as a child, I was always aware that you were truly an inu, not the_ _humanoid_ _person that everyone else saw._ _This you is the one that slept with me at nights when I was a babe, the one that taught me how to trust my instincts, the one that taught me it is acceptable to be proud of your skills so long as you do not overestimate them. Yes, the humanoid you has more humour, arrogance, versatility,_ _and can hold Kagome…_ _But the Inu no_ _Taishō_ _is not my Toga's heart._ _This_ _is my Toga's heart and_ _this_ _is what I love. You are not a ningen and this Kagome loves you more because of that._ "

_**Fuck**_. Toga had always known, logically, that Kagome loved him  _because_  he was yōkai; she had always made that incredibly clear. Especially once he came back to as full of a life as he could have without the Shikon being complete – it was a rare time when Kagome was not touching his form in some manner if she did not have something else to be doing, such as practise, hunting, or cooking. Hell, she was instilling the love she had for his true form into their youngest son, telling him that when he was old enough to assume a fully beast form (kitsune, unlike the rest of beast yōkai with dual forms, reached that age at ten if they had the ability) she would let his papa teach him how to move around and hunt and swim. But he hadn't really been able to conceive of the fact that her love for him truly went this deep.

It was essentially that any yōkai who was not ōkami assumed that without their humanoid form, another being with a humanoid form, be they ningen, hanyō, or yōkai, would not be able to love them. Yōkai who could not assume a humanoid form – or who  _only_  had a humanoid form – were fairly damn lucky; there was no being torn, knowing that your true self was not the person you showed to everyone else. How was it even possible, yōkai-raised or not, that his beloved Kagome was able to see him for who he truly was and love him for who he truly was and not even care if he ever left his natural form? Say what she might about enjoying the sex; Toga knew damn well his little one was not so shallow. That had been a tease – Kagome would be fully happy in a relationship with him even if he could not assume humanoid form.

It was almost  _impossible_. But yet, he knew, just like she did, that there was never a lie that passed between them. Not even for "surprises" – they just honestly stated they would rather not say what was going on or whatever and left it at that, the other party realising it was none of their damn business unless it was shared with them.

" _Did you never realise before, Toga? I've always liked the other you plenty fine, but the being I truly love is the one whose fur is soft and long, whose fangs are_ _over_ _three times_ _larger than I am, who could crush me without a second tho_ _ugh_ _t and not even realise it had happened._ _Regardless of if that being is actually so large at the time. My beloved inu is all mine, and loved for who and_ _ **what**_ _he is,_ _not_ _for the mask he puts on for so-called civilised beings. It is good that I have no inu form myself, or I would say the world could go to hell and run away with you into the mountains, living there forever. Then again, the Kami are likely very aware of this fact, hence why I am not_ _ **actually**_ _inu yōkai; just raised it. I cannot help change the world if I refuse to be a part of it, hah. You know, I am not wholly unique in this. Rin-chan was the one who first pointed out to me the disparity between your forms. We should encourage Sesshōmaru-kun to transform for her – because it would not be fair for one version of our beloved eldest to have a mate who loves him for his true form and another who does no_ _t_ _._ "

Especially not when that wonderful female that would eventually be Sesshōmaru's mate somehow made it so that his little bird loved all of him; not just the part that had a similar shape to her. Correction; not simply loved –  _was in love with_. It was one thing to be fond of and adore the four-legged form of your lover, it was another to love it above and beyond the form that matched your own. It was actually no surprise to Toga that Rin was this way – she had always known that appearances were deceiving and that true monsters did not always look like what they were inside. Ningen killed her family, beat her, starved her, and drove her away, after all. To her opinion, at least yōkai did not bother hiding that they were deadly and merciless. Kagome had never had to learn this lesson, however.

The Kami were truly astounding. He did did not know what either he or Sesshōmaru had done to earn their soul-mates, but it must have been something incredible.

Suddenly a voice echoed into their minds, answering his unspoken wonderings.

" _Despite his supposed hatred of ningen, Sesshōmaru has willingly endured severe injuries from protecting ningen villages within his lands. If they live on the earth he deems to be his to protect, he will protect them from malicious or nefarious yōkai. Outside of his lands, he does not care one way or another – and Rin's village had been mistreating her severely so he did not care about them either – but if they live on what is his to protect then they are also his to protect, be they yōkai, hanyō, or ningen._

" _Were you not the same way, Toga? Did you not, in your near-millennium of ruling the Western Lands, always protect any being who was living on or in those lands from evil beings, from war, from bandits and lesser yōkai,_ _from_ _greater yōkai demanding sacrifices, and other such things? You may have been brought back solely to aid Kagome, to make certain that her life is better this time around, but that does not mean that your deeds from your previous life will go unrewarded in spite of the machinations of that vile Shikon._ _Anything that protects the people of Nihon deserves an extraordinary boon for that protection. In the case of yōkai who are already powerful, strong, uncontested, respected, and loved by many – what could be a better boon than a singular love that encompasses their_ _ **entire**_ _beings; even those states which most other yōkai would merely accept as necessary but attempt to ignore?_

" _This Hachiman thinks nothing else would be a better boon because a love like that is difficult to find even amongst your own kind. Certainly your previous mate, Satori, despised even thinking about her true form; she never accepted it and thus never accepted yours. Kagome deserves you for dealing with Naraku. You deserve Kagome for the way you protected and fought for the people living on those lands you ruled over. Besides, Rin is the last of my living ningen descendants – she deserves an extraordinary mate, and one whom she can l_ _o_ _ve with all her being. Considering her dislike of ningen and preference for beings that she can see their inherent danger_ _immediately_ _, this is the most suitable outcome. I shall leave you now._ "

Kagome suddenly burst into giggles and rolled around in his fur, scratching his back to a point where he was growling and whining in pure contentment. " _Finally_ _, seriously! It's about time the Kami interfered in your life to make it better without someone else pushing for it._ _And before you ask, because this Kagome knows you are about to be thinking of it – I do not at all mind your humanoid form, or resent it or anything like that. I love it very much too. Especially, as I said earlier, the things you can do to me with it. But if, once we're ruling the Southern Lands and you are fully solid again, you slept in your natural form every night_ _or two…_ _that would provide a good balance between your humanoid form and your natural form, for this Kagome._

" _Both every day_ _or two_ _, at different times as needed. Not to mention at least one run_ _and sleeping out under the stars_ _in your natural form as it truly is – full size – every_ _fort_ _night. Rin-chan and Sesshōmaru-kun won't need such measures because Sesshōmaru-kun really does not feel anywhere near as deeply attached to his natural form as you do – that would be his first mother's influence. He does not dislike it, but he does not feel the need to use it outside of stress relief or fighting. Rin-chan will actually help with that a little, she'll ask for rides or to play with his fur like he – secretly – allows her to play with his hair during baths_."

Toga barked out a soft laugh at that – that was so damn adorable. And Kagome truly had eased his fears about her preferring his natural form to the exclusion of his humanoid one – at his deepest  _this_  was who he was, but that did not make the mask any less a deep part of who he was, having been using it for over two millennia. He looked up at the sky and sighed – good, they still had plenty of time; their conversations hadn't really taken very long, so he asked his Kagome something important. " _Little one, what will you do to celebrate the cementation of your position as backup alpha and, if it is deemed necessary, any formal alliance you might make?_ "

Oh no. They were in trouble. Kagome was wriggling around and he could almost feel the grin on her face. " _Kōga's willpower with his removal of those shards yesterday pushed his yōki to the point where he can now transform into a beast form. And this Kagome knows exactly how to guide him into his first transformation – she will_ _offer to_ _do such and then we shall_ _ **run**_ _all the way to the_ _northern border of Sesshōmaru-kun's_ _lands._ _He will likely decline the offer at first, but just watch, once he finds out he promised himself to Ayame he'll wish to prove himself and allow this Kagome to guide him._ _Those who cannot travel so fast can travel on your_ _back_ _and_ _maybe_ _Sesshōmaru-_ _kun_ _'s back if the larger_ _ōkami_ _are not numerous enough to carry them all._ _Not to mention, I fully intend on telling the ōkami about the fact that they can use their reiki just like they do their yōki instead of only using it to augment their yōki – that will give them additional speed, strength, and stamina. I noticed they use their yōki to do it fine but their reiki wasn't acting independently like it should be._ "

" _You do realise you are just pulling the ōkami further into your debt, right,_ _koishi_ _?_ "

She huffed and… Shook her head? Maybe. It was hard to tell when she was on his back. " _No, I'll be fulfilling my duties as their backup alpha. Strengthening the tribe and the alpha I am under. That is my duty to them when I am not being the alpha – so I will do my duty. Now,_ _this_ _Kagome is hungry, let's go get breakfast._ "

Hmm. Well, Kagome had a point there that Toga couldn't deny, so he just nodded and stood up, padding off into the forest. It was time to hunt, but Kagome needed Rakurai to do so. Within moments they were back and Kagome had Rakurai, his whole being concealed as his mate-to-be was teaching him to do even in his true form – it would be far easier in his humanoid form because the additional yōki used to take that form lessened the amount he had to restrain. They didn't need to hunt for breakfast – this was really more for lunch; since the ōkami had provided a boar for dinner and breakfast, they would, as hosts for the alliance creation, provide the meal for it.

That meal wound up being four sika provided by Rakurai – two of them gotten in one clean strike, which Toga strongly congratulated his sweet one on. She was very talented, indeed.

When they arrived back at camp Kagome and Sango used her daggers – one in her hand and one in Sango's, whom she had gifted it to—Sango had a safe way to clean and cook her meals now—to clean and cut up the meat for convenient cooking for their large group. It was put on, and they had a meal of rice and boar, Sesshōmaru telling Kagome and Toga (Mother and Father – it was great to hear those words escaping his son's mouth affectionately) what passed during the night and that the ōkami were still asleep.

Of course not much had really gone on, but still, he was very thorough. It was appreciated, and shown with Kagome kissing his moon mark as she got up to she turn the meat. Miroku took their dishes and washed them, as they all lay down in a pile – even the ningen – to bond and talk softly about commonplaces.

The morning passed very comfortably, despite Shippō climbing over them demanding attention from everyone in the pile, Kirara included. Kitsune kits were precocious and adorable. Full stop.

Around noontime the ōkami began to near their encampment so they all languidly got up and Kagome checked the meat – rare or fully raw for the ōkami, and so tender it was nearly falling off the sticks for the rest of them. Those pieces were rapidly put into bowls with rice and vegetables, and the rest were gathered and placed on the hides of two sika that had been washed and tanned for such a purpose. Not that it was actually necessary, since yōkai generally didn't sicken or anything unless they ate ningen, but still, it was only polite. And Kagome was all about being polite.

By the time the large tribe arrived, they were all seated with their food, so the furred ōkami and humanoid ōkami all grabbed their chunks of meat and they got ready to begin the meal as was custom in both ningen cultures and yōkai cultures in this era – you ate and then you negotiated. In the other world it was different, you allied and then celebrated with a feast, but here the quality of the meal said something about how seriously the host was taking this alliance. Since one, they were in the wilds, two, the ōkami were solely carnivores, and three, this alliance talk was just a formality, they didn't do much of anything special.

"Kira told one of her broodmates in the Northern Tribes that we're headed that way already allied, so he knows to expect us – and  _who_  to expect. And that if he wants to ally he has to promise to keep as many tribes as he has direct control over from eating ningen and told him what you let us know – the old man's always wondered why fewer yōkai feasted upon ningen, so now he knows that and said that even if he didn't take to the alliance he'd make 'em stop doing that. And notify the Southern tribes about it as well – also he's telling 'em that help is on the way if you don't mind; Kira can get to 'em before they contact 'em in about, oh, another shadow change."

Right; Toga and Kagome still used hours, minutes, and seconds, for convenience, but the ōkami at least, he didn't know about other yōkai living in the wilds (ningen and yōkai who lived in built dwellings tended to use candle marks – the length of time it took for one candle to burn down from being freshly lit), used shadow changes – when the shadows lengthened a certain extent from one direction to another. Toga rubbed up against his mate in his impressively large, but still quite small comparatively, form, and the fact that she didn't move despite his shoulder reaching her head spoke of her physical strength as well as the mental fortitude she had shown them so far. " _He can tell them; their support would be advanta_ _ge_ _ous. Unlike some daiyōkai_ _I do not feel that you ōkami are below me, although that might be simply because we are related, after all. Thank you for notifying us of this before the negotiations start – after all, everyone loves to enjoy their food,_ _d_ _o they not?_ "

Meaning there was no rush. Toga knew that the whole "wolfing down your food" phrase's origins were not a thing in this world/era – ōkami were plentiful but so were prey creatures, who bred rapidly, grew fast, and were very overpopulous in areas where there were no natural predators, especially because most ningen were too poor to eat much meat beyond rabbits, martens, and fish; things they could catch with string and clever thinking, or string and worms, which were also plentiful. Luckily such areas were few in this era; yōkai were all over the place and most of them were at least omnivorous or only fed on the lesser yōkai that were like unto rabid animals, of which there were, and hopefully always would be, very many. The ōkami had nothing but meat because that was all they ate, but their tachi had rice with flavourful herbs mixed into it, as well as roasted vegetables – daikon, rakkyo, ninjin, and nasu. All prepared accordingly, so they could be eaten with chopsticks, which everyone in the group carried.

Well, more like Kagome carried for everyone in the group, but the tips of the handles had been painted according to the colour the person who had the pair wanted it to be. Of course, there were several sets of them – wood could be broken rather easily, after all. Not the pair that Kagome used for her hair, though. Those were cleverly bladed and could be used for defence, she'd learned how to use  _those_  last year.

She was passing the chopsticks out now; the signal to eat, which everyone did immediately excepting for Kagome and Toga – because they prayed before the meal to Amaterasu-sama and the other deities, everyone took their cue from either Miroku, usually, or Sesshōmaru, when he was travelling with them. Kōga obviously seemed a bit nonplussed at this until he wrinkled his nose up and thought, before clearly connecting the action with them thanking Amaterasu-sama, with whom they obviously had intimate contact, for the bounty. Hōjin did not pray over food at each meal in this time, and it was largely a Christian custom, but Toga and Kagome appropriated it because they felt it fit and because they could.

He seemed to approve if his nod in their direction was any indication. Most of the Inutachi did not feel very grateful to the Kami due to the nature of their quest, but Kagome and Toga were incredibly so. For many, many reasons.

When they settled in the court, they would do their prayers before entering the dining room, of course, whenever they were residing in the shiro, which would be several moons at first whilst they reorganised things, after which they would resume the normal way things went, Toga and Kagome going out and clearing the lands regularly and only residing in the shiro part time until she was pupped.

Eating did not take very long, really, and neither did the negotiations. Kagome was this particular tribe's "sister" (ane-san or imōto-san depending on the maturity of the ōkami calling her that) and the backup alpha, at least amongst the non-humanoid ōkami, of every tribe in existence. They would aid each other in battles with Naraku, and an ōkami named Dai would be coming from one of the Southern Tribes, since she would have the most contact with them. He was a cousin of one of Kōga's ōkami, and had resided in every major enclave, actively choosing the Southern one as the one he thought he could be of the most use in due to the new Lord there. They would also support Toga's takeover of the Southern Lands, and after some communication, the Southern Tribes said they would as well.

Tenseiga and Jinrai were to be freely used on the ōkami, as was Toga's ability to bring the dead back to life and as was Raimei, though nobody but him, Sesshōmaru and Kagome were aware of the latter. They had gone to great pains to keep almost everyone in this world unaware of the fact that Raimei was a better version of Tenseiga and would continue to do so for as long as possible. Not because of Sesshōmaru (clearly, since he  _knew_  about Raimei); he was already accepting Kagome as his mother, although he had not vocalised it  _formally_  with an acceptance attached yet, and she would obviously have a stronger blade than he would because she was physically younger, needed more protections because she looked ningen, and was not a sibling to be jealous of. No, it was because if people knew they would try to take advantage of her abilities.

Kagome might have been raised yōkai but she still had a kind and gentle heart, the only reason she'd been able to be harsh with Yasha was because he'd caused her previous iteration to die. Well, okay, not the  _only_  reason – admittedly he had several qualities she found distasteful but those had been lessening much as of late. Yasha bathed more now, was more respectful towards her, and was learning the proper use of the term "bitch", as well as being less brash and abrasive. All this even before he had found out about her true relationship with him, but in the three days since he'd found out his actions he had significantly changed even more.

The boy was finally doing his blood proud, and learning that doing so would get him farther than treating everyone as a suspect would get him, by a noticeable amount.

So the alliance talks were done, and they convinced Sesshōmaru to allow Rin to ride him, rather than Ah-Un, and to send Jaken off to his shiro on an errand – they needed more matcha and his shiro had the best quality that could be gotten in Nihon. When he transformed he was magnificent, just like Toga himself had been at that age, and as he shrunk down (It wouldn't be for another century or two before he'd be able to transform to the size he wanted any time he wanted) Rin was exclaiming constantly how beautiful and wonderful he was, snuggling into his fur even as she climbed onto his back.

He clearly appreciated the adoration.

A few ōkami were left when the larger furred ōkami had been taken, so they rode on Toga, who enlarged himself, and they began the trip, running at speeds that were exhilarating even though Toga and Sesshōmaru could run faster in their forms.

It was time to make an alliance with his old friend.

* * *

Translations:

Daikon – Japanese radishes, they are very long and cylindrical. Wholly native to Japan.

Rakkyo – small onions originally native to China but traded to Japan and integrated to the point they are effectively a native plant. Trading was going on between the mainland and Japan even farther back than the Sengoku Jidai so I am assuming they'd have them in this era – especially as, in my headcanon, yōkai are widely travelled and bring in lots of different things that spread to the ningen eventually. Rakkyo are smaller than regular onions, and have a very mild and fresh taste, good for palate cleansing and balancing out foods with a more distinct or strong flavour. They're also just delicious in general.

Ninjin – Japanese carrots; thicker, blunter, and more cylindrical than western carrots. Wholly native.

Nasu – Eggplants! Yummy. Wholly native to Japan. It surprised me when I found out that eggplants were native to Japan. Who'da thunk?


	18. Chapter 18

The experience with the Northern Tribe's enclave had been  _amazing_. Kagome had never seen so many yōkai together at once, either still in their animal forms or in humanoid forms – there had been representatives from every tribe under the Wolf Elder's rule there, so it far outnumbered Kōga's initial visible tribe, which was enormous enough as it was. However, there were far,  _far_  more four-footed ōkami in his tribe than in any other tribe, and a majority of them were in hiding until they arrived, at which point they all emerged as a group and showed how truly fucking  _enormous_  the tribe he ruled over was. It was just, completely incredible. And almost too much to believe, honestly; he was still so young!

One of her tribe-mates had succinctly informed her that this was due to all of the Eastern Tribes being united under Kōga's father – he had inherited the lot, and it spoke of his raw power and charisma that they had  _stuck_  with him! Yes, he had daiyōkai potential, but even so, Kagome had learned about ōkami and they usually did not make any more effort to get strong than was necessary for their position in the tribe; however, apparently all of the more formidable four-footed members of his tribe had turned Kōga into a hard-working, determined, and beyond powerful young man. Finding out that one of the ōkami had some small talent of foresight and knowledge explained why they had done this to Kōga, thankfully enough. It reassured her that the Kami probably didn't have a hand in this.

Ayame had been a delight, and immediately pounced on Kōga, who had been rather amused at this sudden attention from a (gorgeous) female. He had, indeed made her a promise, and whilst they weren't going by the exact words of it (there'd been some specific timing or some such thing that Kagome didn't care to remember about when they would mate), a mating-alliance had been formed and the Northern Leader and Wolf Elder had blessed the union and stepped down in favour of Kōga.

That last had not been going to happen until Kōga decided he wanted to prove his worth to be with Ayame, for whom the Wolf Elder, her father Chōrō, had been arranging a mating to another tribe leader's son. Their promise meant that he had the advantage anyhow, but when he came to Kagome (as she had  _known_  he would, which she shot to Toga, which then caused Toga to grumble in amusement that she really read people far too well for her own good) asking her if that promise she'd made to cement the alliance could be done  _now_  so he could impress Chōrō, she couldn't turn the adorable ōkami down.

So she had sat him down against a tree and led him into his first ever meditation. It was easy since he had a strong communication with his instincts, and soon he  _was_  those instincts. Then she led him through changing his chakra channels, shaping his body's reiki, and then shaping his body itself.

The result had certainly been  _impressive_. Despite only being around fifteen, Kōga had been easily twice the size of any of the ōkami present in the area, easily twice the size of any of the ōkami present at  _all_ , if not larger than that, barring Chōrō himself. So when she rode on his back to the enclave and he announced himself to Chōrō and Ayame… Well, Chōrō had transformed and padded over, not even a third larger than Kōga was! Then he announced that Kōga was now the Leader of the Northern Tribes, to all present and all the ōkami of those tribes that could hear him, and turned back into his humanoid form. Kōga had transformed back as well…

Only, different.

Suddenly his right hand had a clawed gauntlet on it. And then, even more unexpectedly, a booming voice called out to everyone present that Kōga's actions, which had gone to protect their tribes above and beyond what was expected of him, and for no real greed of power whatsoever, had earned him the Goraishi, the ōkami yōkai's most powerful weapon. It was an ancestral weapon that, the spirits informed them, he would have earned if his tribe had been slain and he had sought out justice – true justice, not petty revenge. Instead, it would be used to protect them from needing such justice. The clawed gauntlet proved to be able to be summoned at will and disappear when not in use, which was convenient since mating would be difficult with large, sharp metal claws on his dominant hand. When Kagome pointed that out, all of the Northern ōkami had just stared at her, although the Eastern ōkami and Kōga, as well as her pack, had all laughed heartily at her comment – and at the stunned nature of the Northern ōkami's shock that a ningen (they weren't spreading it around that Kagome truly was not a ningen, simply because that would set things back) female would make such a joke.

It had definitely been an eventful time, and Kagome was glad of the rest they would be receiving shortly – they were all heading to Sesshōmaru-kun's shiro for a sennight, to rest from the recent events, and because he needed to make sure things were being run well in his absence. He did this once a season, for three sennights, so the timing was convenient for him as he had not gone this season yet – from what Kagome gathered, Sesshōmaru found court life tiring and tended to put things off until the last possible moment when it came to visiting his shiro. She could understand why.

After all, she'd been groomed for that sort of life, just as he had, and even though she enjoyed it abstractly… Well, people made for drama and Kagome hated  _that kind_  of drama with a passion.

Even so, it would be a delight to have indoor onsen and proper futon to sleep on, meals made by  _other_  people, and to befriend the servants with Rin-chan and Shippō-kun. They planned an invasion, and soon would have it so that the whole of the court would either accept the presence of ningen and hanyō in their home, or lose their servants. Similarly, the guards would be won over, especially as Kagome was teaching Rin-chan and Shippō-kun traditional samurai kata; she was learning kata even younger than their respective ages of eight and seven, and despite that yōkai used bone bokken instead of bamboo like ningen did, pain would help them learn and her powers could heal them up rapidly if they wished.

Shippō would allow her to heal cuts more rapidly than he could on his own, but he tended to refuse to let her help with even his more severe bruises. Rin-chan was wholly ningen, however, and would not gain the abilities she'd had as an adult in Kagome's original world that gave her added strength, immunity, speed, and the like until she mated Sesshōmaru. Mating him would change her body to be – not yōkai, but something similar to Kagome's form, in-between without being hanyō. More resilient, stronger, and having a lifespan to match Sesshōmaru's; exactly. If he died, she died, and vice versa. It was part of the reason why so many yōkai who took ningen lovers  _never_  mated them. Yōkai almost always lived violent lives and usually died messily and, even when powerful, very soon after other yōkai found out about their dalliance with a ningen (which was permissible, if looked down upon) and creation of a hanyō (which was anathema).

Especially if that yōkai had the bad luck to live in a pack, enclave, tribe, clan, or court. Groups of yōkai living together, even of different types, considered themselves tainted by such an action and did their damnedest to rid themselves of the taint – ningen, hanyō, and yōkai involved. There was only one exception to this; well aside from those rumours she kept hearing about Hōraijima, which in her world had seemingly been a myth, but which the name of gave Toga dark looks that meant he was plotting something evil for someone(s) and planning to thoroughly change some part of their journey that had ended badly previously.

Anyhow, the only exception was if the ningen involved had spiritual powers because  _everyone_  knew that when a yōkai mated or had a dalliance with a miko, monk, priest, or priestess, the child was always exceptionally powerful, oftentimes even surpassing its parents in spite of being a hanyō. It so rarely happened that most yōkai were beginning to shift it into mythical territory, but oh, that would be changing when Toga mated her. And when Sesshōmaru-kun mated Rin-chan, who  _definitely_  had latent spiritual abilities; Kaede had obviously not been strong enough to sense them in the girl the first iteration around, and neither had Kagome, but she could feel them simmering beneath the surface. She just needed to bring them forth.

The moment she proposed that to Sesshōmaru-kun his eyes widened, then darkened with delight – it was clear that he had divined his eventual relationship with Rin-chan and had been at least somewhat disappointed that they could never have children due to the imbalance in their power; yes Rin-chan had a lot of fortitude and willpower, but if she'd had no spiritual power—or not been the final descendant of Hachiman-sama—Sesshōmaru-kun would simply be far too powerful for their children not to be like Yasha-kun and need a Fang in order to keep their blood under control.

Sesshōmaru-kun would never put a child of his through that. Which was why Sesshōmaru in her time had no children with Rin-chan, even though they  _wanted_  pups. Oh wouldn't they be so pleased when they got to this world and had those memories of raising their pups and these new changes! Kagome just was so utterly pleased with this new outcome. She hadn't sensed the power in Rin-chan over there but that was because if gone unused after so long, reiryoku and hōriki tended to sink down and become inaccessible and undetectable. Spiritual powers, if not used, just faded away after a decade following full maturity.

Rin's powers were not inherent and natural though, which was likely part of why they hadn't been sensed. No, she had not been born with those abilities. Instead, Tenseiga had realised the soul-bond between them, forced Sesshōmaru-kun to act upon its urge to revive Rin, and then  _during the revival_  it had given her those spiritual abilities that ran in her blood from her connection to Hachiman-sama so that its owner could have a  **full**  life with her. Tenseiga was freaking  _amazing_ , seriously.

Yes, Raimei might be amazing herself, but she was only slightly stronger than Tenseiga – if they ever lost track of Raimei and needed Toga to be in his full form, Tenseiga would work exactly as well as Raimei would. The fact that Raimei was more powerful than Tenseiga had to do with two things only: that she had come from a larger fang, and that her craftsman had been superior to Tōtōsai. That was  _it_. Full. Stop. It hadn't been because Kagome had a softer heart, or because she needed a better weapon, or any such stupid thing. In fact, because of Jinrai, Raimei was actually slightly inferior to Tenseiga; Jinrai could heal and because he had the ability to heal, Raimei lacked such an ability, whereas Tenseiga could give life  _and_  heal.

Sesshōmaru-kun had been made aware of Raimei's abilities shortly before Kōga kidnapped her, just because things had changed so from how they were previously that Rin-chan's safety was no longer so assured; she'd been brought back by Tenseiga, so Sesshōmaru-kun deserved to know that she could be brought back once more if, horror of horrors, something managed to kill her. Kagome rather doubted anything would, but they had decided to be safe rather than sorry, and Sesshōmaru-kun had not just been pleased with having this information, but with their request to hold it secret – another sign of favour. Kagome rather thought that Sesshōmaru-kun was finally accepting that his father loved him deeply and always had; certainly he was more than aware that Kagome utterly adored him in every way, and it was, as she had hoped, making him more open, emotional, and relaxing him when he was around their pack; which was an awful lot of the time.

Kagome was sliiiightly suspicious that Sesshōmaru-kun was finding reasons to seek them out, especially since he frequently had a shard or two with him when he visited, but it made her oh so happy that he was doing so that she would never voice such a thing except to Toga, who strongly suspected the same thing.

When they arrived at the shiro, Kagome took her eldest son aside, whilst Toga had Rin climb onto his back, following them discreetly so that they would get lost in the bustle of everyone welcoming the new guests. Yasha-kun and Miroku-ni were no weaklings, Sango was a taijiya, and Kirara was a nekomata – not to mention that Shippō was a kitsune and would never be harmed, just because of his breed, so basically the whole group was safe as safe from any attacks; they could protect themselves.

Sesshōmaru-kun looked at her with open curiosity and she began what would be a delicate process, because he  _did not yet know_  about the spell that  **needed**  to be performed now whilst they were at the shiro and Rin was present. Well; he knew about the spell Toga would be chanting – just not the ritual that would come beforehand. "Sesshōmaru-kun, I want you to trust me, and please do something for me."

He made an acknowledging "Hn," but did not agree to the statement; which was well and good because had Kagome been under some sort of mind control or something else then he would need to be worried. However right now she just allowed him his caution and ploughed on.

"I want you to remove one of your fangs, cut yourself with it, and then cut Rin with it, in the palms of your hands."

Sesshōmaru-kun clearly was beyond appalled at her request but she gave him a knowing, understanding glance, and stroked his hair softly, not saying a thing, asking silently for him to trust in her abilities. It took some time, but eventually he did as she asked, pulling one of his fangs out, taking it and slicing his palm open, and with the bloodied fang, slicing Rin-chan's palm open. Rin-chan was silent throughout this whole thing; she had the ultimate faith and trust in her "Sesshōmaru-sama" and thus trusted in things that he placed his trust in.

Sesshōmaru-kun healed on his own, but Kagome healed Rin-chan's palm for her, then carefully lifted the fang from Sesshōmaru-kun's fingers, allowing her reiki and miko-ki to billow gently around her as she worked her "magic". The blood absorbed into the fang, and Rin-chan gasped as it happened, but the noise was not unpleasant, because Rin-chan was feeling how her body was becoming stronger already, just from this bit of the ritual; she was immune to most poisons now – all that was left was making her immune to  _anything_  not stronger than Sesshōmaru's own poisons, acids, and venoms. Silently, she continued her work, manipulating the inherent energy within the fang and reshaping it slightly so that it looked as if it had been cut out instead of pulled, then drilling a hole into the incredibly strong object by using Kodokuso to form an arrow that was similar to her hunting arrows, and having Toga hold the fang so she could pierce it with the glowing green shaft.

The resulting hole was perfect, and she cooled it off with her reiki before stringing it onto a leather thong and enveloping her hands in both reiki and miko-ki, as Toga began chanting in Old Nihongo. When he was finished, the spell was in place, and she tied the leather strip around Rin-chan's neck, close enough that it touched her skin directly, as did the fang, and could not be pulled off over her head, but loose enough that she could grow and it would not choke her. It would  _never_  come off of her now, nothing anybody could do would be able to remove this necklace from her person.

Sesshōmaru had told her how to do this, informed her that he had demanded that she do this with him chanting the spell in his time, but would rather that Rin-chan be protected from the first time she ever entered the shiro because there were going to be attempts upon her life, no matter what happened.

She told Sesshōmaru-kun this information, and how her previous existence had done it, and he realised the full extent of what she had done – as he ingested new poisons, venoms, and acids, the blood-connection through the fang would update Rin-chan's biology and make her similarly immune to them. The curt – because he was choked with emotion in such a way that Kagome had  _never_  expected to see from him – thanks was more than enough, and she smiled as they were led to the family wing where the rest of the tachi were.

Shockingly enough, the servants were beyond respectful to her and Rin; treating the little girl with open adoration even this early on into knowing her and Kagome realised half their plans would be moot – these people knew about the changes in their Lord,  _strongly_  approved, and had deduced the causes of these changes to be herself and Rin-chan. Mostly Rin-chan; which was good, because that meant they would easily accept Rin-chan as their Lady when the time came for it.

And Rin-chan was safe from attempts on her life, because firstly, she slept as pack with her own alpha; nobody would  _dare_  enter Sesshōmaru-kun's rooms, no matter how much money they had been offered. Entering uninvited, unless one was a servant, and Sesshōmaru-kun had them and their yōki memorised, was a  _death sentence_. There was simply no getting around it. Secondly, she was under not only the protection of Sesshōmaru-kun, the servants, and Kagome's tachi, but she was under the protection of Toga and Kagome herself.

Oh, thinking about that demonstration had her  _squirming_  with glee, and she nudged her mate because she wanted to do it  _now, now, now_. He tolerantly got up and she climbed onto his back, the rest of the group (they had all been sitting in the private family dining area when she got this urge) followed behind, all of them aware of her plans and looking forward to seeing them come to fruition. When they reached the courtyard there was quite the gathering of servants following them – but none of the guards or nobles – good. Grinning, she leapt off of Toga's back, and without a second thought he shifted, unfurling his yōki to its fullest extent and growing to his immense natural size. Within  _seconds_  every yōkai in the court was out and staring, as he greeted them all, and Kagome growled furiously, leading him to wince slightly.

Even though it was technically an act, that growl coming from her mouth promised pain to anybody it was directed towards, and whilst Toga had agreed that this was necessary, neither of them were looking forward to what was about to happen next, although they were both looking forward to the  _results_  of it.

Kagome rushed forwards and  _zapped_  him, strong enough that he instantly lost his physical form, reverting to his ghost state with an incredibly pained whine. "Don't you  _dare_ , Toga! I know this used to be your court, but you got brought back to take over a  _different_ court, and to be my mate. This court belongs to Sesshōmaru-kun and I will  **not**  have you usurping him! You are to obey and if even one of these nobles acts against Sesshōmaru-kun now I will purify you so hard you cannot be corporeal for a  _sennight_ ; and ban you from my bedroll as well, Shippō-kun doesn't need both of us to sleep well, right Shippō-kun?"

Her kitsune son rushed over to her and clambered up her body until he was standing on her shoulder and nuzzling into her hair, clinging to her head tightly. "Right Mama. This Shippō doesn't need Papa to sleep fine, but please don't make Mama do that, Papa, I'll still miss you."

Toga whined a bit and walked over to them obediently, nuzzling her forehead and Shippō's forehead, despite that he went  _through_  them. "This Toga understands. I was not attempting to gain more power, koishi, I just missed this place so much that I had to let them know I was back; I recognise so many of the servants and guards from when I was Lord here…"

Making it very subtly clear that he cared little for the nobility themselves. They were all too gobsmacked to see this, though, because Kagome had just proven to them that messing with her was, similar to entering Sesshōmaru-kun's rooms, a  _death sentence_.

If she could purify the Inu no Taishō to such an extent that he  _lost his form_  then anybody else would have been dead; full stop.

Sesshōmaru-kun chose that time to act, and act he did, shifting into his own natural form (which was impressive as all fuck for his age,  _damn_ ) and commanding everyone present to clear the area before he had the servants feed them all gruel for dinner.

They scrammed, and Kagome barely held in her laughter at the speed with which it happened. Yōkai certainly thought with their stomachs!

This visit was going to be  _great_.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:**  Many apologies for not getting this out on time; I ran out of my atap last Saturday and have had a rough week with hallucinations and nightmares and exhaustion galore, and am only just recovering from withdrawal and being off my meds. Thank you so much for all the feedback! 3

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Sesshōmaru had never had a  _real_  mother before, one who loved him, was affectionate and sweet, showed she cared, all those things most beast yōkai parents did for their children; things that his father had done for him whilst he was alive, and had rather expected something, well… Well, Kagome was not what he expected of a ningen (although she wasn't really ningen, which did explain some things), first and foremost… But secondly, she somehow managed to be affectionate and kind without either making him feel as if he had to return the affection or being patronising. He had not thought that possible, to be honest. And Sesshōmaru was  _always_  honest. It was why he had no family, pack, or friends until Kagome entered his life.

People usually disliked not having those little polite lies to hide behind and make themselves feel better about their lives. Sesshōmaru refused to cater to their whims and they had to learn that he was not his father, clearly, not only due to his personality but also due to the fact that his father had informed him that he was stronger at his age than his father had been at the same age. That had been an incredibly pleasing day for Sesshōmaru, when he found that out, for certain.

His father being around was… Well,  _interesting_ , for sure. The older daiyōkai looked exactly as he had when he died, despite being five hundred years older almost exactly. Nobody was truly certain of when Toga had died, since it was currently the same time of year and in their world the old stories of the Inu no Taishō didn't have exact dates, since exact dates did not exist in this era/world; just approximations of seasons and years and the like. Sesshōmaru could see the use of solid, steady dates, to be honest – he would like to know the day that he met Rin, now, although at the time he could have frankly cared less about the filthy ningen child that was making herself a nuisance and bothering him whilst he was recovering from an attack.

But the little girl was as precious to him as Kagome was to his father. And he really ought to stop calling her Kagome in his mind – she was his mother, full stop. That was a  **fact**  now. He had two mothers, a biological one who partially raised him, and a stepmother who was more of a mother to him than his "real" one had ever been or would ever be, because she simply did not care to be. Sesshōmaru was not ashamed to admit to himself that Kagome was as precious to him as his father was, and that she had become so in a frighteningly short amount of time.

But she was loyal, steadfast, stubborn, kind, efficient, skilled, proud of her skills, more than willing to be harsh when the situation necessitated it, capable of defending her pack, and frighteningly powerful considering he had learned that her power was  _mostly sealed_  and she could  **still**  "zap" his father enough for it to actually hurt the insanely powerful daiyōkai (although, admittedly, being raised using earth-ki would do that to someone, so it wasn't actually  _surprising_  despite that it was frightening) –  _no_ _yōkai_ _in existence_  (the fact that he differentiated that, when once upon a time "no yōkai" would have been "nobody" because despite protecting them because they were  _his_  he used to liken ningen to animals, and that it was all Kagome's fault, was no small thing to him) had lived as long as Toga had, they had all died violent deaths or were short-lived and lucky enough to die of natural causes: meaning they died in their sleep.

Because injury, attack, poison, or just ceasing to have a heartbeat any more were the only things that could kill yōkai in this day and age. In the future/world where his mother and father came from there seemed to be plenty more, assuming the yōkai in question was not a daiyōkai and had not existed in this day and age – daiyōkai in their previous world that had been alive in the feudal era tended to be effectively immortal; neither time nor attack could kill them, they were tough enough that even attempting to cut their heads off would simply fail.

Not even something as strong as his acid whip or poison whip could do that to a yōkai who had been alive in the Sengoku Jidai and either been born or developed into a daiyōkai; despite that in their future, as in this time, he regularly ingested new poisons he learned about, and he learned about every last one he could, from many sources, in order to make himself more immune to that form of death. He was overcautious, most likely, but Kagome had fondly told him that  _both_  her Sesshōmarus were overcautious and that too much caution was by far better than too little, so she loved them both that way. In this time period it was  _not_  over-caution however – his nobles were stupid enough to attempt such a thing if they assumed he was weak; as seen when he visited his shiro and Rin was there for three sennights.

Of course, the attempts had failed, badly, as had the attempts on his little Rin; the latter for two reasons only. Reason number one, Kagome had asked him to pull one of his own fangs and cut both himself and Rin with it, which had appalled him as his fangs held all of his  _ **strongest**_  poisons, acids, and venoms in them; not to mention his blood was deadly even to strong yōkai – but all it had taken was a gentle stroke of his hair and a soft, understanding look to make him eventually decide to trust his mother. In her own way she saw Rin as a daughter, after all, even though it was a bit more distantly than she saw himself, Yasha, and Shippō as her sons. Once that was done she had done  _something_  to it with a mixture of her reiki and "miko-ki", reshaped it, and put a hole in it, after which it had promptly been strung onto a length of leather.

Then his father stepped up and chanted a familiar spell; whatever the item first touched it would become permanently attached to and no attempts at anything whatsoever could take it away from or off of the object or person that it was put in or on. Kagome had covered her hands in reiki and miko-ki during this chanting – something he had not realised was even  _possible_  and had resolved to learn how to do from her so that he could replicate it with his reiki and yōki – and tied the necklace to Rin's neck, loose enough to have room to grow, but not loose enough to be pulled off over her head; Mother had apparently been taking  _no_  chances despite the spell's nature, likely because there was always the chance that someone else had a spell that could possibly counter it. Sesshōmaru himself then melted the knotted leather together, just as an extra precaution.

Kagome then informed him that in her previous existence, she had done this as well, only Sesshōmaru himself had asked for the protections and instructed her in how to perform them. At the time she had used her miko-ki to do as he had wanted. It had come about because somehow, despite winning over the entirety of the servants in the shiro with her sweet innocence and deep wisdom, poison had been slipped into her food and not been noticed by the servant bringing it to her. Considering that they had all up and decided that the only servants to serve Rin would have extremely sensitive noses, it was likely that a sorcerer or sorceress had been bought for the purpose of spelling it into her food mid-meal.

Thankfully, Sesshōmaru had scented the change himself before she took another bite, and promptly left the shiro, masked both his presence and Rin's with his yōki, re-entered, and dug in his library with the aid of a few of his most trusted servants and Rin herself. Eventually he found the spell he wanted, and demanded (the mere idea of  _demanding_  his mother to do something was… admittedly fairly damn frightening. She must have been vastly different in her base personality; probably not her traits, just how they were parcelled out and the strengths of them) that she do the spell for him. She had complied despite Inuyasha's displeasure and the Sesshōmaru in her world had informed her about it so that the protection from any poison he had ever ingested and would ever ingest could be had far sooner.

Sesshōmaru himself was just more assured of his intelligence at that; clearly time had not lessened his intelligence one whit, and he had been as intelligent in his previous iteration as he was now.

The second reason all poisoning attempts on his Rin (nobody dared attempt to poison Kagome when they found out the extent of her power, which she and his father had cleverly displayed the first day they arrived at the shiro – spiritual powers that strong would simply burn away any poisons and likely lash out and slaughter the persons involved in the attempt) had failed was because, just as had happened the first time around, the servants in the shiro, and the guards as well, all  _utterly adored_  Rin, as Sesshōmaru had suspected they would. They adored Kagome just as much – many of the servants in the shiro had been the same ones there when he was a child, and seeing the effect that Kagome and Rin had on Sesshōmaru pleased them incredibly well. He was certain that it had nothing to do with him becoming more like his father, because that simply was not happening. If anything he was growing  _less_  like his father, and more into himself.

However, Sesshōmaru knew that he was clearly more settled, happier, and more  _truly_  self-assured now, rather than his previous self-assurance, which had been partly a mask to ensure that nobody crossed him – if he seemed like he thought himself invincible, more people took him as if he were.

To be honest, he damn well nearly was invincible, and he was much more positive of that fact now than he had been a mere two and a half moons ago. That was all thanks to Kagome and Rin, and the servants, who were the only ones who could see behind his masks that he wore for the court and people outside of it, could tell that almost immediately.

Sesshōmaru had been aware that Kagome and Rin had thought up some clever plan to get the servants on their side, but it just simply had not been needed. They'd been able to use their plan for the guards, however, and the results had been quite pleasing – especially when it was proven that not only could Kagome fight Sesshōmaru himself to a standstill (although she still lost against Father), but  _Rin_  could fight  _Shippō_  to a standstill; the kitsune was clearly a born daiyōkai, clearly incredibly powerful, talented, wise, intelligent, and clever for his age, and clearly more experienced in actual fighting. But without his tricks and illusions at his disposal—which weren't allowed in exactly half of the fights he partook in with Rin—this little ningen girl with miko potential (and  _oh_  what an amazement and relief it had been to find that out, considering Kagome had never hidden what Rin would become to him – he would be able to have biological children with no fears that they would be unstable like his brother was) but no knowledge of how to use her ability at the moment, was more talented with a sword.

Letting the guards find that out had been a stroke of genius, and Sesshōmaru was under no illusions that his mother was, and always would be, far cleverer than he himself was. Not his birth mother, she was clever, but simply too tricky and self-absorbed to match his intelligence or cleverness, even as far back as when he was merely one hundred years old. It had been clear to him as a child that his father did not love the woman he called mother, and that he never truly would; her little dalliance with another yōkai had merely given him the freedom to seek out someone else, and she hadn't been able to do anything to stop it. Seriously, he supposed he had some fondness for the woman who had drilled his etiquette and court behaviour lessons into him as a child, but emotionally, she was no longer his mother; Kagome had entirely usurped that position and with absolutely no dishonesty, although there had been some manipulation – a fact which he rather appreciated instead off being upset over. Dishonesty was dishonourable; manipulation of a situation or person to gain an advantage was perfectly fine so long as only truths were used.

In fact, he rather respected his mother more for the fact that she had used his at-the-time hatred of his middle brother to her advantage, and without the hanyō even realising it. Of course, his younger brother was not as stupid as he sometimes acted, and was well aware by now that he had been manipulated into the alliance. Similar to Sesshōmaru himself, however, the hanyō appreciated it rather than being upset over it. It had gained him a family that he had been denied even more than Sesshōmaru – at least  _he_  had known his father growing up, for the most part. Yes, he had lost him at a young age; merely nine years old, physically, although mentally he was far more mature, yōkai aged faster mentally than physically, it helped them keep alive in a dangerous world. But he had known him for one hundred and eighty years, and had been approaching his first burst of adult maturation, at which point his birth mother left him to rule the Western Lands and kept herself secluded away in her little castle in the sky.

Sesshōmaru was rather looking forwards to her meeting with Kagome, and intended on being there to see it; he had already been to a ningen sorceress (because money mattered little enough to skilled yōkai that they simply would not keep their mouths shut; skilled ningen could be counted on to keep quiet if they were paid more than just the fee for their skills – one of the few ways in which ningen were consistently more intelligent than yōkai, who simply had access to far more resources than the majority of them) to find out how far in the future, to the day, it would happen.

It was going to be a delight, for Sesshōmaru did not try to fool himself into thinking that he in any way forgave his birth mother for abandoning him as soon as his body appeared old enough that he wouldn't be immediately murdered by the court. He would indirectly take his revenge, it would be very sweet, and then he would cease to think about the woman. The fact that he could not even call her by her name in his mind meant more than the fact that he still acknowledged her with the title of mother in any way – she mattered little enough to him that the only thing he cared about was that she birthed him and partially raised him. He cared not about her or her life outside of that fact and she did not deserve to have her name acknowledged, far unlike his father, who he sometimes called by name both out loud and in his mind. Although usually he just called the man Father; partly because it pleased his father, and partly because it pleased  _him_.

Having Toga back in his life was an unalloyed blessing, and he was beyond aware that he owed this occurrence to both Kagome and to his younger brother – in fact, finding out the cause of Kagome's previous iteration's death had only deepened the feelings of brotherhood, which was rather strange for Sesshōmaru, who usually thought that dishonourable actions such as those that ended in his mother's death in her first iteration were despicable. However, one, they had been wed; not mated – to a yōkai that made all the difference in the world. Two, they had never been soul-mated in that manner, which also mattered. But most importantly, those actions had ended up with him having  _two_  packs to be a part of, a family of the like he had never had before, and stronger protections for his future mate.

That last overrode everything and made him immensely grateful to his younger brother, despite that the boy (yes,  _boy_ ; now that his life was in nowhere near as much danger, Yasha had purposely regressed to a much younger mental age, which Sesshōmaru could not find it in him to fault the hanyō for) himself still suffered severe guilt over his previous iteration's actions.

Sesshōmaru felt very thankful to the Kami that his mother's pack's journey had begun in his lands and that, she admitted, they would for a large part stay within his lands, only leaving them a few times. It meant that he could seek out yōkai with tainted shards and present the shards to his other pack, staying with them for a day or two before returning to patrol his lands, then repeating the cycle. Sesshōmaru could not sense the shards themselves – but the taint of that vile thing was clear as day to one who could sense yōki as well as he could. It invaded, took over, and corrupted yōki, actually weakening it in the long run; the more one relied on the Shikon for power, the more power it took from the one using it. He was immensely pleased that his mother had managed to convince the new leader of the Northern and Eastern ōkami tribes bordering his lands that using them would weaken him; if Kōga had used them for more than, oh, two or three moons, he would have had his potential disrupted permanently and never been able to attain a beast form, much less attain a status as high as daiyōkai.

Kōga knew it not, but he had that potential. Sesshōmaru and his parents were keeping this knowledge to themselves because if they told the teenager he would work himself into the ground to achieve it: he had an incredibly strong sense of work ethic for an ōkami; they tended to be more the type to live out their lives in seclusion with their tribes and only work as hard as they could to become powerful enough to survive, as a general rule. His entire pack was different though, probably due to the fact that unlike most greater beast yōkai, ōkami in their natural forms were more powerful than their counterparts that were able to take an almost ningen form. He had an abnormally high amount of that type of ōkami (they far outnumbered the rest of the tribe, what Kagome and the rest of her tachi had seen when they first met the tribe had been only a fraction of the ōkami who considered themselves to be under Kōga, which was incredibly rare) and they had constantly pushed him to better himself so that they had a leader as strong as they were. Sesshōmaru assumed this was because of Kōga's being orphaned and many attempts upon his life as a child.

Whatever the reason, the ōkami yōkai as a whole were benefiting from this, gaining a better work ethic and growing in strength. It was clear that by the time they reached the era in which Kagome had been raised there would be no extinction of either kind of ōkami; either mere animals or yōkai.

His mother was already drastically changing the world and he loved her all the more for it.

It was strange to love anyone other than his father, but his life was much better for it, so it was one more thing to thank the Kami for; Sesshōmaru had never been very conscious of Their presence in his life before this point, most yōkai weren't, and that was something that was changing as well because of his lovely, intelligent, and brutally kind mother.

Yes, having a mother who loved him was a far different experience than he had expected it to be, but yet again; he loved her all the more for it, and  _always_  would.

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**A/N 2:**  I was a bit worried about Sesshōmaru changing too much to be recognisable, but dayum that line he thinks about his intelligence reassured the fuck out of me. That is arrogance  _personified_. He is clearly still himself, honourable and arrogant and brutally honest, even though he is not above wording his honesty in ways which make it sound different than what he means. Not in his thoughts, however; those are straightforward, clear, and just as brutally honest as his words are.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N 1:** **A/N:**  My antipsychotic failed on me -  _again_ , which is fucking terrifying because there's none left I can take and we're resorting to other medications to try and stop the hallucinations - and I spent the past few weeks freaked out, scared, and worried. I just got out of CSU again, which was just... agh. Happy Christmas and Happy New Year everybody. As an apology and belated Christmas present, I'm updating two chapters today!

**A/N 2:** Despite how it looks near the end, there is no actual sexual content in this chapter – the chapter ends before it begins, and this Mari believes that there is a small amount of character development in Toga that means you should read through to the end even if you usually would skip the lead-up to sexual content. Thank you kindly.

* * *

When Satori came, as Kagome had known she eventually would, thanks to her wonderful Sesshōmaru in the future, Kagome had rapidly engineered a situation that would make the power-hungry and mislead inu bitch stop and stare. As soon as she had felt that vaguely familiar aura she had demanded they do their morning grooming; as is. Even Sango-chan took part, running her fingers through a full-sized Kirara's fur. Miroku-ni was grooming Kagome's hair whilst she lovingly combed through her mate's fur. Yasha-kun was grooming Shippō-kun, and Sesshōmaru-kun, who had joined them again, bringing Kagome three shards he had found in some pests, was grooming Rin-chan's hair.

Kagome wasn't sure of everything that Satori had seen and heard in her mirror, but it was likely incomplete snatches that made her think that Toga was Kagome's alpha and guardian – her own affection for him and wish to be a part of whatever scheme he was cooking up now, not to mention their once-status as mates ( _not_  chosen mates; Satori had never worn Toga's fang – they had been arranged mates) would blind her to signals that the relationship was far more than platonic. She could almost feel sorry for the inu, but it was her fault that Sesshōmaru-kun had grown up so closed in and held back, her fault that Toga had felt the need to find a temporary sort of love in Izayoi, her lack of acceptance that had made Kagome's beautiful Toga feel as if nobody could truly accept him fully as he was.

And that was just unacceptable and deserved punishment.

As per her command, nobody in the group paid any attention to Satori, until, about five minutes into her appearance, Kagome scratched under Toga's chin, a sign for him to enlarge himself, which he did – just enough that Kagome could curl up against him and rest her head on his back, her arms looped over his back and scratching through the fur along his side. Miroku-ni had finished her hair and she had put it up in a bun, and Miroku-ni was now working on Sango's hair – he had become far more respectful to the taijiya as of late and Kagome could feel a romance blossoming between the two of them that was  _adorable_.

Finally, content with the way her pack looked and having formed her comment to an acceptable nature in her mind, Kagome gave the – admittedly beautiful, although it was a cold and too-perfect sort of beauty – inu bitch her attention. "Yes? Does the Lady Satori have any business with this Kagome's pack? Yasha-kun, Rin-chan is getting discontent with being groomed, how about you let Sesshōmaru-kun groom Shippō-kun and sit and groom Sesshōmaru-kun with Rin-chan like she wants to do? You know you find it amusing when she slips braids into his hair."

Invitation to speak, proof that she could read her pack better than Satori ever could (admittedly, not having empathy gave Satori the disadvantage) and the familiarity with which she addressed Satori's biological son – and the fact that he did not  _protest_  it – proving that she was indeed the alpha of this pack (whilst Sesshōmaru-kun was alpha in his own right, and had his own pack, when he was with Kagome's pack, he was beta rather than Miroku-ni, and only alpha when Kagome and Toga were not around);  _not_  Toga, as Satori likely had assumed.

Oh, that look on her face was priceless. See, Kagome knew what Toga was unaware of – and what Sesshōmaru had asked her to  _keep_  him unaware of until after the meeting with Satori. Satori's other male by the time Toga moved towards Izayoi was intended to make him  _jealous_  because Satori adored Toga—and his status as Lord of the West—with her very being and knew that he did not feel the same about her – but had hoped that she could force him into changing his feelings towards her. Toga, unfortunately for Satori, had no idea of this, but it didn't change the fact that he'd never liked Satori much to begin with. Nor did it change the fact that the entire reason her wonderful Sesshōmaru-kun was so cold, held back, and distant most of the time was because this female had never given him affection, mothered him, or spent any time with him when she wasn't drilling court manners into him.

Kagome didn't even really care about Satori when it came to Toga excepting that she was a part of the reason he was so insecure about his true self. But Kagome was honest with herself and admitted that every previous female of his was part of the reason; not just Satori. Kagome disliked Izayoi just as much as Satori when it came to Toga; the same with Jisa and Kira, the two yōkai he had been with before the arranged mating with Satori.

Aaaand Toga was about to say something, so Kagome flicked his ear and growled warningly at him, just like any good inu bitch would. "You say one word to anyone else here until you are given permission and I will ban you from my bedroll for three days. Shippō-kun doesn't need both of us to sleep well, just one of us. You are not the main alpha here, I am, and you promised not to interfere unless it was necessary. No threatening someone whom you haven't even seen in five hundred years, Toga."

He whined in agreement and obedience… And suddenly amusement was radiating into her mind and oh  _Kami_  he had done that on purpose, the fucker. She could hear him laughing into her mind as he spoke solely to her; thus negating the ban because nobody else could hear him. " _I know Satori well, and she was about to address me instead of you. I simply decided to make it clear that I am not in charge of this pack in any way whatsoever. I promise not to interfere any more, koi_ _shi_ _._ "

Good. She could deal with Satori on her own because Kagome had the one thing that no other female in existence had gotten from Toga; a betrothal fang. Satori, it seemed, however, was having a difficult time processing what she had just heard, because her already pale face was paler, she looked like she had just bit into something sour, and she had involuntarily taken a step back. Kagome decided to just  _get this over with,_ _seriously_.

"Look, Lady Satori. I was merely being polite earlier. I know full well why you are here. Look at my aura, and look at my left ear. That really should be all the proof you need and then you can go back to your castle in the sky and live out a life of ease and luxury like you prefer. Because, frankly, even if you could convince him that your affections are genuine, unless you can bring yourself to love  _every single aspect_ -"

Here Kagome buried her face into Toga's fur and tightened her arms around him, before kissing along the middle of his back and up to between his ears, then placing a gentle kiss on his muzzle, "-of him, you have not a single chance of ever making Toga regret choosing me. You cannot even stand your own true form, how can you ever expect to love Toga's true form every bit as deeply as the humanoid mask he wears in order to be able to interact with ningen and other yōkai? Here, I will answer that for you: you cannot. So perhaps you had best just leave and allow my pack and my lover to continue on with our duties without interfering with them.

"And before you decide to try some petty revenge against me out of fury? Your own son, five hundred years in the future, partially instructed me on what to say to you and that he would rather have as little contact with you as possible, because when he contacted you for information on something the experience ended in his most precious person dying for the second time in her short life, going to hell, and having nightmares that after five hundred years have still not lessened. When you refuse to show affection to others, Lady Satori, it generally comes back to bite you in the ass. People do not like being around cold, impersonal beings who do not show affection unless it gets them some sort of benefit."

Satori left without a single word, but she wasn't even close to being out of range before Toga burst out, completely disjointed at what had come to the forefront in this conversation to the point that he either didn't realise or didn't care that his ex-mate could hear him still. " _Are you_ _serious_ _? Satori fancie_ _s_ _herself in love with me? Has the world turned upside down since I half came back to life? Also you did make a good point, Kagome, considering that without_ _ **your**_ _sword, I cannot even assume my humanoid form beyond a spectre_ _that cannot feel a thing_ _or be felt by anyone unless in a specific area of Nihon_ _; she would not have been very happy only interacting with my true form_ _unless I personally wished otherwise and you know how rare that happens outside of specific times_ _._ "

"It is a good thing you said "fancies herself" in love with you or I would have had to swat your nose, koishi."

Toga chuckled and growled contently as she tangled her fingers in his long fur. " _No, little one… After you became backup alpha for the ōkami and corrected my view that one could not genuinely be in love with my true form, backed up by Hachiman-sama himself saying it was a reward for my guardianship of the Western_ _L_ _ands, I have realised that nobody else has truly loved me unless they have loved me as you do – both my humanoid self and my furred self. If you had not expressed from such a young age how much you adored my furred form and loved me because of it I might not have ever been able to accept that you could possibly be_ _ **in love**_ _with it, but luckily for both of us there was no such struggle._ "

She smiled fondly at him and sighed, "How could I not love you? You are beautiful, powerful, strong, charismatic, charming, kind, sweet, and utterly perfect in every way, no matter whether you have absurdly long hair and walk on two feet, or if you have absurdly long fur and walk on four paws."

Rin-chan spoke up then, her cute little voice pretty much forever cementing her future place in Sesshōmaru-kun's life, even had it not been fully secured before now. "Rin feels the same about her Sesshōmaru-sama! It doesn't matter how he looks, Sesshōmaru-sama is always perfect and wonderful and Rin loves Sesshōmaru-sama with everything she is!"

Then the little girl climbed out of Yasha-kun's lap and sat beside Sesshōmaru-kun, cuddling into his side as he kept grooming Shippō's tail, his expression itself still concentrating and stoic, but his eyes warm, pleased, and happy. Sesshōmaru-kun was slowly becoming more comfortable with receiving and displaying affection – in small, subtle ways. Touches, strokes, light kisses. Inu affection – not ningen affection. No hugs or things like that. It was slow going, but according to Rin-chan her Sesshōmaru-sama would  _sleep_  beside her now – or, well, watch over her while she slept, because her Sesshōmaru-sama did not need much sleep. Yasha-kun grumbled something incomprehensible about weird yōkai customs and then slid away from Sesshōmaru-kun, falling onto his back on the grass and calling over, "Hey, Mom, sing us a song, please? It's been ages."

It'd only been three days, but considering she tended to at least sing a lullaby every night, that could be considered ages, she supposed. Yasha-kun was also very adorable now that he was giving himself a chance to be more of a child.

Kagome smiled softly and nodded, uncaring of the audience carefully watching their interactions. She mounted her love's back and buried her face into his fur as she wrapped her arms around his neck, while she deliberated, then decided on the perfect message to send – and the perfect expression of her feelings right now. Yeah, it was in English, a cover, and from something like half a decade to a decade after her time (nobody knew about the true extent of her "timelessness" but the Kami, but she abused her powers once she found out about them, especially when it came to music), but the language didn't matter when Kagome could make anybody understand the meaning of what she was saying if it was escaping her mouth in song. It was a strange ability that nobody knew where it came from, but they all agreed it would be useful. Sesshōmaru didn't recognise the ability, but he admitted that Kagome likely had not been trained to become a singer in her first iteration, unlike this one which had trained her in singing, flute, and shamisen – both with and without a placard.

"Yeah… Ooh. Some people live, for the fortune. Some people live, for the fame. Some people live, for the power, yeah yeah. Some people live just to play the game. Some people think, that the physical things define what's within. Oh. I been there before, but that life's a bore.. So full, of the superficial. Some people want it all, but I don't. Want nothin' at all. If it ain't you baby. If I ain't got you baby. Some people want diamond rings, some just want everything, but everything means nothin'… If I ain't got you.. Yeah..

"Some people search for a fountain, that promises forever young. Wait. Some people need. Three dozen roses.. Yeah. And that's the only way to prove you love them. Oh. Hand.. me the world.. on a silver platter, and what good would it be? Oh, with no one to share.. With no one who truly cares for me? Some people want it all, but I don't. Want nothin' at all. If it ain't you baby. If I ain't got you baby. Some people want diamond rings, some just want everything, but everything means nothin'… if I ain't got you you you.

"Some people want it all, but I don't want nothin' at all.. If it ain't you baby. If I ain't got you baby. Some people want diamond rings, some just want everything, but everything means nothin' if I ain't got you.. If I ain't got you with me baby.. Cause there ain't nothin' in this whole wide world.. doesn't mean a thing.. if I ain't got you with me baby. Yeah."

Sesshōmaru-kun gave a very rapid glance over to where Satori was listening and watching, then a tiny little approving smirk towards Kagome, who held back her giggles and just tilted her head ever so slightly. But then she gave a genuine loving smile to her mate and tightened her arms around his neck, hiding her face in his ruff as she so loved doing. It might have been a message to Satori – telling her that love for someone's true self was more important than the trappings which Kagome knew damn well were fully half of the reason that Satori wanted Toga for her mate, properly this time. But it had also been a message to Toga. Their destiny didn't matter, her training didn't matter, the Kami didn't matter. Kagome loved Toga and Toga alone and would give up everything to be with him.

From the way he was shaking slightly beneath her, he was well aware of that, and the enormity of it was completely overpowering him. So she stroked through his fur, growling lovingly and comfortingly as her pack busied themselves doing various things – not giving the pair true privacy, but giving them a semblance of privacy. They were all aware that since Sesshōmaru-kun was here, if Toga truly needed to be alone with Kagome – or vice-versa – they would go off to be alone over something like this. If it had only been their group without Sesshōmaru-kun, they would stay regardless; this wasn't something worth putting Miroku-ni in charge over. Not when he was truly beta, not alpha.

Kagome knew what her mate needed right now though, and it wasn't to be alone or away from the group. She slid off of his back, pulled Raimei from her obi, and placed it on his forepaws. He was immediately in his humanoid form, moving so swiftly that Kagome hadn't even seen him push the sword into his obi before he grabbed her and held her tightly against his chest, a choked sound coming from his mouth as he hid his face in her hair. Toga was incredibly free with his emotions in private, and this counted as private to him since it was her pack; their family. Her beloved had taken her aside once they finished with the ōkami and warned her that this would happen, probably with some regularity, any time that the truth and completeness of her love for him was forced into his face.

His inu form might be his true form, but it couldn't hold her, and Toga and Kagome were well used to his humanoid form enough that neither of them would have him without it – his true form was simply far too limited in what it could do. That did not make her love it any less, it just meant that she could truly love both sides of him – somewhat more animalistic (the longer one lived, the more sides merged, and the more one became able to impose logic onto their instinctual sides) and furred, versus more logical, emotional, and wearing a full-body mask that made him seem far less dangerous.

He would probably be like this for a while, so Kagome deftly undid his armour and set it aside so she could bury her face in his kimono and wrap her arms around him, after looking around the camp. Miroku-ni was asking if Sango-chan wished to spar, Shippō-kun was begging to show Kirara and Sesshōmaru-kun (his little " _Please_ , ani-san, pretty please?" was so damn adorable) some of his latest illusions, Rin-chan was happily making flower-crowns to later place upon people's heads, and Yasha-kun was settling down for a nap – during the daytime he had no issues sleeping on the ground, it was only night time when that particular phobia kicked in, and it was slowly beginning to lessen; just a bit. He could sleep in inns now, but that was only because they were covered, enclosed areas, and they'd  _paid_  – innkeepers weren't likely to allow something to happen that would drive business away.

When Toga whispered an almost inaudible " _Again_." against Kagome's hair, she hadn't immediately understood – but then it hit her. The reason that Kagome could make people understand what she was singing, regardless of if they understood the language, was because she could make them feel what she  _felt_  whilst she was singing – the meaning translated from her emotions into their usual language and untangled itself into something understandable powered by feeling – it was a sort of projective empathy that she didn't have when doing anything else. It hadn't just been the song – she'd been very strongly projecting exactly the fullness, completeness, and depth of her love for her betrothed, so that Satori could see first off, what she was up against if she stupidly decided to pursue her initial course, and secondly, what Satori was  _missing out on_  by being unable to even accept her own self. You could not feel love like that for someone else if you could not even love integral parts of yourself.

Kagome might not be above revenge, but she was still a kind, loving person who generally just wanted to help make people's lives better. If Satori could come to love herself instead of being repulsed by what she truly was, then she could learn to make genuinely affectionate connections with people. She could be happy outside of those times she was reminiscing upon her mating with Toga – who, admittedly, due to his attitude and his flirting to keep her in a more pleasant mood, had fully encouraged her affections.

Still, her alpha needed her feelings, so she began to sing again, her voice soft enough that it wouldn't disturb anyone, but loud enough that since Satori was nearby she could still hear, and then she completely tuned everything except her beloved out, pouring all her love for him into her words. Song after song, from ever so many languages – Kagome was a lover of music and sought it out from all over the world, even going so far as to learn new languages (she was fluent in five languages aside from Nihongo) simply so she could understand their music without having to manually translate each song she heard.

When she finally awoke from her haze of providing her beloved with the emotions he needed to feel, so that he could process that it was even possible to be loved so completely, she looked around the camp, and was incredibly pleased with the results her singing had brought about. Firstly, everyone, even herself and Toga, had flower-crowns upon their heads, which was beyond adorable and amusing as all get out. (Rin-chan could somehow put a flower crown on anyone – or even braid flowers into their hair – without them realising it had happened. It was a complete mystery. They all adored it, however, even though Yasha-kun predictably grumbled about the indignity of flowers in his hair.) Yasha-kun was napping (his crown was  _on his face_ , which almost made her burst into laughter) with a curled up Shippō-kun on his chest, Sesshōmaru-kun was awake but watching Rin-chan raptly as she slept, her own crown draped over her ear as she pillowed her head upon his thigh. Miroku-ni was meditating deeply, manipulating his reiki and hōriki to use them better, and Sango-chan and Kirara were also napping, rather close to her monk brother.

It was nearing lunchtime, though, and Kagome felt that Satori was actually still around – no doubt intending on seeing if Kagome could take care of her pack's physical needs as much as the emotional ones that were obviously not neglected. Well, Satori didn't matter – however within an hour or so all of her pack would begin feeling hunger, so it was best to go ahead and get it prepared and ready. Toga whined softly ( _Kami_ ,  **the**  Inu no Taishō was so addicted to her presence that he whined in a  _beyond_  desolate manner when she was merely moving somewhat. Take that, Satori. Mleah.) when she made to pull away, but she stroked the lightning bolts on his cheeks and kissed him softly, multiple times.

"I'm just going to go grab a sika or a boar for lunch and dinner, since we will obviously camp here for the night, we are in no rush, seeing as Sesshōmaru-kun very kindly took care of the shards we were on our way to retrieve."

Toga didn't let her go yet, pressing kisses all over her face as he spoke, "Mmm our eldest truly makes me proud – before you even told him in depth how vile the Shikon is and how the power it holds is twisted and only gives a false strength that it will use to manipulate you into doing what it wants, he brought you those two shards, asking if "these disgusting things happen to be those jewel shards you were talking about?" and if they were, "please take them, because this Sesshōmaru wishes for nothing so vile and ringing of lies in his lands, infecting his people". The look on Yasha's face was so priceless."

Kagome giggled softly herself, remembering the perplexed look on Yasha-kun's face when Sesshōmaru-kun said those things, because supposedly every yōkai was susceptible to the lure of the Shikon. They both knew that Sesshōmaru-kun was listening to them because he knew they would not be speaking if they cared about who could hear them. Toga truly had not expressed enough love and pride in his eldest son before he died, and so made up for it every chance he could get now – never overdoing it, never lying, only stating the truth as he saw it and only expressing truly earned pride.

Kagome, unbeknownst to the two of them, could feel a building up of energy that was  _oh so familiar_  and it made her wish to squeal in glee because oh it hadn't been until almost the final battle with Naraku last time around that he'd been able to manifest Bakusaiga, and yet it was already forming within him now! Having his father and someone who obviously wished to be a mother to him, loving him, being affectionate towards him, showing blatant pride in him, was convincing him that any perceived favouritism was false – especially with how Toga had acted towards Yasha-kun in the beginning. Not knowing how to interact well with one's son because you were a good Lord and patrolled the lands most of the time did not mean not loving him as much as some unborn child you never even got the opportunity to know. Ideally, Tessaiga would never have left Yasha-kun's body so that his blood would stay managed.

It was not a gift – it was a preventative measure; the most striking and unusual abilities had been pulled out of Tessaiga to form Tenseiga: bringing the dead back to life, slaying the dead, and developing the Meidō Zangetsuha. Yes, the Meidō ability could be transferred back to Tessaiga in case it was ever removed, but considering that Tessaiga should have  _forever stayed inside of Yasha-kun_ , no matter what bullshit that old asshole Tōtōsai had spouted to Sesshōmaru last time around, it was given to Tenseiga so that the blade could have an effective defence once it had deemed that Sesshōmaru-kun had learned enough compassion to want the blade on its own merits. When Toga had encountered Tōtōsai and remembered that transferring the ability back to Tessaiga took it from Tenseiga he'd been furious for a sennight over that and Kagome had eventually pulled him into the forest and shoved him into a creek to get him over it.

Needless to say, the fact that his own retainers preferred his younger son to his elder son was something that Toga Was. Not. Happy. With.

"Well, Yasha-kun was under the false impression that any yōkai, regardless of their strength of character or willpower, would fall victim to the promises the Shikon lies about. Sesshōmaru-kun is powerful and wise, does not feel the need to rely on anything but himself for power, and can recognise that unless rightly earned, power is useless."

Unlike what normally happened with conversations like this, Kagome and Toga letting Sesshōmaru-kun know bluntly how they felt about him, the situations he got into, and other various things… Sesshōmaru-kun responded. In a way that actually worried Kagome a bit until it nearly made her cry when she realised the implications. "Kagome-sama… this Sesshōmaru understands that you are fully capable of providing for your pack, as you do so regularly… but this Sesshōmaru would request that you allow him to hunt for luncheon and dinner.

"It does not matter that you had previous contact with this Sesshōmaru – you treat the one in your own world differently, make an effort to clarify such, and have from the moment you met this one treated him in a manner which he has never experienced before. Without expecting a single thing back from him, without pushing him, and without making him feel as if the affection must be returned or accepted; simply offering it if he ever wishes to do so. Even going so far as to entrust your pack to this Sesshōmaru whenever he is around and you wish for time alone with Father. This one has decided that he wishes to accept what you are offering formally, because he knows that despite him calling you as such before, you have always held back on fully believing he meant what he said,  _Mother_. Please allow this Sesshōmaru into your family and pack as your son, Kagome-sama."

Kagome choked slightly, clinging to Toga, but before she could truly accept this, she had to get one thing clear. The thing that had kept her holding back from fully accepting that Sesshōmaru  _really_  accepted her as his mother. "Satori?"

He scoffed and combed his claws through Rin's hair beneath the flower crown, leading the young girl to tighten her hand around his sashinuki hakama and adorably murmur something that was likely his name. "This one's birth mother only interacted with this Sesshōmaru when it was to drill lessons into him, and abandoned this one as soon as he was at a physical appearance where the court nobles would not slaughter him, even though his father had very recently died. You, on the other hand, offered this one affection and even love despite that the first time he saw you he tried to rid the world of you. That Satori may have birthed this Sesshōmaru, but Kagome-sama has loved him as she would her own child, despite never treating him as anything less than adult."

"Th-thank you  _so much_  Sesshōmaru-kun. This Kagome would be beyond honoured to have you provide meals for her pack. And do not let worries enter your mind – this Kagome will never expect levels of affection from you similar to what Shippō-kun gives her, or any such thing – Kagome loves her Sesshōmaru-kun as he is; affection is just how she shows this love. She does not expect it to be returned beyond what is comfortable for her eldest."

He sent her a small smile then, oh but it was  _so warm_. "This Sesshōmaru admits that affection is not so difficult any more – and is more pleasant than he had thought it would be when it was first becoming shown."

Toga huffed then, and rested his head on Kagome's, "You're inu, of course it is. Your biological mother might be cold and held back but the large majority of us need affection of one kind or another to thrive and live happy lives. It is a part of how our bodies work. We are  _beast_  yōkai, after all. Even Satori is not immune to this – she did not like physical affection, but this Toga made sure to flirt with, cajole, and tease her; it was the only kind of affection she would accept and while I was never overly fond of her, it made her more pleasant and I did not wish for her to harm herself by closing herself off to everyone else."

"Father, do you believe you ever could have loved this one's birth mother?"

The fact that he was not calling Satori by her name… Well, that was  _very_  telling; Sesshōmaru-kun clearly held no real love or care for the woman.

"Oh, I did. But it wasn't a true love; the same thing happened with Izayoi. Whilst carrying my pups I loved both your mother and Izayoi desperately. It is somewhat telling, however, that when the Kami decided to pull on Kagome's strongest soul-bond to find out who they needed to bring in in order to keep the Shikon from reaching through time to make her will herself to death, they found not only that her strongest bond was to me, but that my  _only_  bond was to her. I would never have truly been able to love any female excepting Kagome, full stop. Regardless of if I wished to or not, it would never have left me feeling satisfied and happy with the situation."

Sesshōmaru-kun hummed lightly, "It almost seems cruel; but considering that the situation turned out in such a way that the Kami felt their intervention necessary, it was likely always going to end with you ending up with Mother."

"This Toga has no doubt of that. As long as Kagome had taken care of the Shikon in the manner she did previously, it would have ended in her untimely death. She was only thirty in her previous iteration, and had been miserable for much of her adult time alive. Kagome and the Kami have a plan this time to take care of that vile thing that will twist any being who holds it into making a wish that ultimately gives it more power and life, without the being knowing that any wish granted by that jewel will twist back upon them and eat them alive. This Toga is unsure of how to avoid repercussions, but trusts his beloved little one and the Kami that they can do so."

Okay – Kagome had thought Toga to be purposely ignoring or just uncaring or unaware of Satori's presence but apparently he was making precautions that she didn't attempt to use the jewel herself to rectify things. Kagome rather thought that was overkill – Satori wasn't  _stupid_ , just selfish and cold. Besides, she was rather damn powerful herself – any  _truly_  powerful, fully adult yōkai would hear that the promises the Shikon whispered were falsehoods. Granted, most simply did not care, but... That was on them. Sesshōmaru was unique because despite his power he was still so very young, and most younger yōkai tended to ignore that they were falsehoods, passing it off as "I can get rid of them later" or "it won't turn out like that with me" or other such things. However his outlook that power should  _only_  be earned, and wholly spurned otherwise, was not just a rarity amongst yōkai in general, but especially amongst younger yōkai.

He might be exiting his teens, but that was still so very young for creatures that lived millennia if they were powerful enough and were generally fully mature by their third century (if hanyō or kitsune, who aged one ningen equivalent year for every ten) or their fifth or sixth century (if yōkai, who took fifteen to twenty years to physically age approximately one ningen year until they hit their first maturation and platformed until their second, depending on the breed. The rate of mental development also changed according to breed). Sesshōmaru-kun was an anomaly in the best way, and she truly had a difficult time imagining that he had  _ever_  been a true antagonist towards them. Not as in someone who maliciously attacked them for no reason. He had a reason, went about doing what he wanted in the yōkai way, which just happened to be attack and kill. Kagome had a sneaking suspicion that if certain events had been changed; for instance if the jewel had been incomplete when they defeated Naraku – or worse, shattered again – the Kami might have had her end up with Sesshōmaru instead of Toga. Kagome was perfectly happy with this outcome though, so she just didn't think about it much.

Sesshōmaru-kun pulled off his mokomoko-sama then, and pillowed Rin-chan's head on it, the appendage wrapping around her lovingly and protectively as he stood up and walked into the woods with a comment of, "You haven't had any alone time since the ōkami were managed and one was found to travel here to educate Mother. This Sesshōmaru is willing to stay a few more days and give you two some alone time."

They both nodded at him, and Kagome thanked him with a smile. However… As soon as he was out of hearing distance Toga spoke to her, his voice rather… Well, dangerous. Someone Was Not Happy. "Was the cause of my little daughter's second death directly her fault or indirectly her fault?"

"Sesshōmaru wasn't clear, but I think that is just because he doesn't want you punishing Satori for something that was absolutely at least partly an accident. She opened a gateway to hell with the Meidō stone you gave her, and a yōkai or something popped out, pulled Kohaku, with whom he was travelling at the time, and Rin-chan into hell. Sesshōmaru, obviously, followed. Satori had made some comment about if he was going to eat the children earlier on, so Sesshōmaru was unsure of if she timed it purposely or it was just a coincidence although he thinks it was bad timing. Satori isn't  _that_  all-knowing or powerful.

"To be fair, despite Rin-chan dying once she entered hell, Satori brought her back, although Sesshōmaru made it blatantly clear that the only reason she did so was because he was having a complete breakdown at the fact that he could not bring back the only person who had ever loved him just because of who he was and for no other reason. He said that he had probably never expressed so much emotion in his entire life as he had at that moment and it shocked her so much that she could not bear seeing her son so decomposed and used the Meidō stone to bring Rin-chan back in order to bring back his composure."

His arms tightened around her and she sighed, setting about calming him down. First thing she did was straddle his lap and press her body against his, which simultaneously relaxed him and aroused him. Then her delicate, strong hands slid into the back of his kimono and hanjuban, pressing into his skin and massaging it, whilst her lips pressed open-mouthed kisses along his throat, her teeth scraping gently and her tongue flicking out against his skin. Despite being designed to effectively turn him on, her actions relaxed him more than they did anything else: Toga was yōkai, and an inu at that; they were very,  _very_  frequently aroused, it was one of their default states once they reached full adulthood  _and_  had a partner – really, just having a partner was enough to do it if they had reached first adulthood upon becoming around fourteen or so, rather than their second maturity at around nineteen to twenty.

Unlike ningen males who could not handle it for long periods of times, most beast yōkai could (although most of them were also far too impatient to do so) and sometimes even enjoyed it. Certainly Toga did – he enjoyed knowing that his mate not only trusted that he would tell her when his desire was great enough it needed to be sated, but that she actively enjoyed arousing him to the point that she went out of her way to do so at least every other day, even if it was just to relax him from an unpleasant mood. (It rarely was – Toga was laid-back and a generally very pleasant person. Kagome just loved affecting her mate in such a way – she was yōkai, after all.)

Kagome had her empathy shields open to the aura of their little spy – and Kagome did not resent Satori for this spying. Using her mirror had really given her a very incomplete picture of not only the power balance but the entire workings of the pack, she was simply using this time to get a more complete view of things. Rin-chan and Yasha-kun were the only ones still asleep (Yasha-kun didn't sleep well at night no matter where he was at, so he generally kept watch during the night and slept during the day when they weren't travelling) – Shippō and Kirara were playing around, and Miroku-ni was instructing Sango-chan in the use of her reiki and how to channel earth-ki from a new place. Previously he had been teaching her how to do it from against a tree; one had to work harder to pull it up from the earth itself without a tree already keeping it up at the surface. He had learned quickly from Kagome and immediately began instructing Sango as a means to get close to her. (Infatuation at first sight was so cute, seriously.)

And not a single one of them were paying any attention to their alpha and her actions towards their usually fully canine member. Making it blatantly clear that, despite the fact that Toga was usually in his true form, this happened often enough that even though half their pack was ningen-raised or companion to ningen, not a one cared about the blatant pseudo-seduction going on. Satori would not be able to comprehend that this was because Kagome's pack knew that despite the nature of her actions, they were innocently driven – she was relaxing her mate and relieving some of both of their tension, not intending on having sex in full view of the pack. Their alpha and her mate were able to defend them better, spend more time focusing on the health of the pack, and concentrate more fully on finding the shards and defeating Naraku because of these actions that, despite being intended to arouse, were still rather damn chaste. Kissing and massaging were not exactly inherently erotic, they were more comforting than anything, despite the reaction Toga had to them.

Toga was finally relaxed enough that he could massage her shoulders and begin kissing along her ear, whispering softly to her, "Do we still have an audience?"

At her affirming hum he smirked against her skin and scraped his fangs against her neck, making her shudder. Okay, now  _this_  was veering into intent to do more than simply relax her – Kagome could hold out admirably, but was nothing like Toga in that regard. "Please allow me to show you off, koishi."

That… Yeah, okay. Kagome could easily work a little bit of reiki manipulation that made Satori follow them and watch them, and Kagome had no qualms with being watched – it didn't arouse her, but it didn't dampen her arousal either. Of course, Toga, the pervert, fully enjoyed showing his mate off. And even though Toga was intending on showing Kagome off, Kagome was going to have it be the other way around. Despite his own preferences, he was planning on a rougher session even though he had no true aggression or frustration to get out, which he had made clear early on was the only time he truly enjoyed sex the yōkai way.

Not today. No matter how gentle and loving he was, Toga was still a yōkai – the sex was always somewhat violent; yōkai had fangs and claws, after all. He didn't ever have to hold back with her, and Kagome could prove to Satori that she could handle every aspect of Toga without him forcing himself to endure an act which he didn't truly enjoy most of the time, and which, unless Toga himself was enjoying, Kagome didn't really enjoy, either.

Nobody was surprised when they went into the trees the moment Sesshōmaru-kun returned with a boar, or with the fact that Sesshōmaru-kun had returned mere moments after Toga had begun responding to Kagome's advances in a more than chaste manner – aside from Kagome herself, Toga was the only person who could sense when Sesshōmaru-kun was nearby, because he had such fine control of how much yōki he let out. Kagome sent a little strand of "follow, look, watch, see, you know you want to get proof that you do have a chance after all" reiki towards Satori, and sure enough it worked.

Of course, the feelings inherent in the reiki were a bald-faced lie; this would just prove that Satori was even  _more_  unsuitable for Toga, but Kagome didn't really care about that. She cared about making sure that Satori did not interfere, and changed herself in ways that meant she could truly be happy with her life.

As soon as they reached a clearing, Toga began to strip and strapped Raimei to his back, but before he could reach for Kagome she walked up to him and traced the lightning bolts on his cheeks. Satori had kept up remarkably well, and Kagome would prove that Toga was as much an anomaly as Kagome was. "Toga, are you upset?"

He hesitated, then wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "Aggravated? Angry? Frustrated?"

She had to hold back a smile at his huff and at the way that he very rapidly looked towards their watcher – no doubt wondering what kind of game his betrothed was playing. "No."

Kagome used his hair to pull him down, pressing soft kisses along his markings, which were delightfully sensitive. Then she pulled away softly and threaded her fingers into his ponytail, giving him a serious, loving look. "Do not feel as if you need to prove yourself to anyone just because your ex-mate – whom you have not even seen in over five hundred years before this point, if you will remember – happened to show up today and attempted to confront us. If you are angry or frustrated or otherwise in some mood that means you would enjoy more roughness than usual, you know that I am always up for that. But let me fill you in on a secret, koishi – I only enjoy your viciousness when you are enjoying it. I adore the natural roughness inherent in our usual lovemaking, but anything extra is only arousing to me when it is arousing to you – which means  _if you are meaning to prove a point to someone who is not here and does not matter_  then neither of us will enjoy our intimacy, and what is the point in it then?"

That right there stopped Toga in his tracks, and he closed his eyes for several moments, barely holding back a growl that Kagome could tell was geared towards upset at himself for what he had been intending to do, before he moved trembling hands into her hair and scratched along her scalp as he pressed his head against hers, deftly taking the chopsticks out and undoing the bun she frequently wore her hair in. "I am so sorry, koishi. You are correct. Satori does not matter, and I should not use you to prove a point when she is not even around to have a point proven to. You and I both know that because you are not ningen you can handle my roughness and even encourage and enjoy it."

He slowly undid her obi and scraped his fangs against her jaw, his claws closing around her neck and opening up very shallow gashes that healed almost immediately and which made Kagome whine in a  _very_  aroused manner. "I am the one who prefers gentleness between us, and it has always been so, hasn't it, sweet songbird?"

She gave off a breathy moan and pulled him closer, no longer even thinking about their hidden watcher. All that mattered was  _pleasure_.


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: This is the SECOND chapter posted today.** And unfortunately it will be the last for a bit; I've run out of buffer and am really struggling with a lot right now, so idk when I'll be able to work on this more, however it is NOT ending here. I've partially written the next chapter and am going to be working on getting my buffer back up asap. :)

* * *

Really, this was absurd. Tsubaki was stupid and powerless, compared to all of the people in Kagome's pack.

"Seriously? You really thought that bargaining with a stupid, Shikon-powered hanyō was necessary to gain the life you wanted? Come  _on_. Clearly he didn't even think to warn you that I am not Kikyō's reincarnation since you keep comparing me to her. Her soul just tagged along with the Shikon when it chose to house itself in my body. I'm far more powerful than Kikyō ever was and she knows it, which is why she warned you not to go up against me. I suppose she still holds some residual fondness for you despite you being a power-hungry, worthless,  false miko. True miko care not for glory, we only care for the lives of those around us. We care not for power excepting that it can be used to aid others. We care not for a life of youth unless the  _Kami_  decide to grant us with one. Bargaining with yōkai for any of these things turns us into dark miko, false miko, and it is time to end you since you clearly can't even fucking wrap your head around the fact that  _your spells won't work on me_ , dumbass!"

Kagome didn't know what this stupid woman was trying to do to ensorcell her but it wasn't working and she kept gloating about Kagome being some like Diet Kikyō or some shit and seriously she'd been going to try to talk her down because Kagome would much rather save lives than take lives, but " _Ugh_  fucking stop already, you annoying bitch!"

With that she used Kodokuso to purify her and poison her, easily breaking through the barrier that was holding her middle son captive, seeing as there was nothing physical to bounce off of it.

Kagome had been made aware that he was weaker now than he had been by this time in their travels last time around, but as far as they were all concerned that wasn't much of a problem – Toga admitted that her own swords had been given the ability to absorb abilities and gain new powers, but so far she hadn't even needed that because barriers were kind of useless when she wasn't using physical arrows to anchor her purification to. They'd already met and helped Shiori and allowed her to keep her barrier-orb to protect her village.

Naraku was clearly running scared because Kagome and her tachi had rescued Kagura and Kanna from his clutches and granted them not only freedom, but safety in Sesshōmaru-kun's shiro where Naraku couldn't get into or he wouldn't have approached this chick here – and hell, he might have been trying to get Kagome to kill Tsubaki for him, but she rather doubted that, he wasn't that subtle. Naraku was clever but lacking in common sense and street smarts. Half the people he'd tried to manipulate into doing his will had been either too in awe of or frightened of their tachi to do any such thing (and had instead come to Kagome for protection from the evil spider hanyō) or Kagome had been able to talk them down, which was much more suitable than her having to kill people.

Especially genuinely talented miko.

But this was Tsubaki's own damn fault for being stupid, kidnapping Yasha-kun, and pissing Kagome off – not to mention falling for whatever trick Naraku played to get her to act so foolish.

"What- how- Oh,  _Kami_  that bastard trick-ow!"

The barriers flickered on and off until they disappeared. "You are being poisoned right now, and will be dead in probably two minutes or so. I'm taking my  _son_  and leaving; nobody here deserves to watch you die because you were stupid. I try not to put my pack through such things. Let Naraku know that I still have my powers and that this little stunt will cost him. Before, I was letting him pursue me, but he caused my son to be kidnapped – the hunt is officially  _on_  and spider is the prey this time around; not the miko from the future."

With that Kagome ushered her pack out, knowing that Tsubaki was well and truly over – even if she in desperation turned into a yōkai she would still be being poisoned and die shortly. Kodokuso was far more powerful than even  _Magatsuhi_  himself was. Because Sesshōmaru had been ingesting poisons, venoms, and acids from around the world for five hundred years by the time he had her made for Kagome. There was simply no contest.

Yes, it was shitty that she'd had to die – but the miko was in her old age anyhow and would have died in another couple years regardless.

Meanwhile, Kagome had a spider to squash – assuming Toga didn't have other plans.

* * *

As it turned out, Toga  _did_  have other plans.

Inuyasha was currently feeding his father with all the information he could give him on Hōraijima, where he had gone with Kikyō just over fifty years ago, and, armed with a battle plan, the group (including Sesshōmaru, who apparently had a vendetta against one of the War Gods on the island named Kyōra) left off, knowing that several families were waiting for them on the shore, so that they could be relocated. Only the families with the most to lose, those in the most danger, would be given sanctuary here – the others, Toga had informed of his long-term plans and were willingly staying where they were so that they could be of help in making sure hanyō were accepted by yōkai and ningen alike.

As soon as they approached they were attacked, but Toga, wearing Raimei, easily diffused the missile by slicing it in half (unlike Naraku, this was  _his_  project, and so Kagome was allowing him to take control of things and having him stay solid), and as they landed at the island and other entities began attacking them, the group split up. Yasha had a special job to do, whilst Kagome and Toga took care of the War Gods, Miroku and Sango took care of the false Kikyō, and Sesshōmaru aided them.

Ryūra was downed first, having had the stupidity to actually attack them despite his tangible fear once he realised he was facing the actual, living, Inu no Taishō himself. These idiots were no match whatsoever for Toga and Kagome, and within moments he was poisoned and his head lopped off with Jinrai – Kagome was using Kodokuso right now, and even though she could probably purify even these unnaturally strengthened fuckers with her power, she was just to poison and sting them. Toga wanted the pleasure of cutting their heads off, and Kagome wasn't about to deny him any pleasure he wished, so he was using  _both_  of her swords right now.

Gōra was next to fall – they were doing this in a specific order and leading the War Gods away from the Cauldron of Resonance, so that it wouldn't be destroyed this time around, and so that the island would continue to exist into the future, because until Toga and the rest of them could finish his modification of the Cauldron of Resonance so that it was a more stable, solid barrier instead of a time barrier, the island would disappear were it to be destroyed, as he had informed them had happened the last time around. Gōra was also fairly easy to dispatch, and soon it was time for Jūra, at which point Sesshōmaru joined them, informing them that the false Kikyō was dead. Kikyō herself was projecting a barrier over the families on Nihon's shore, protecting them from attack whilst Kagome's tachi did their mission.

Sango and Miroku were now helping Yasha with his mission, protecting him whilst he took the orbs he carried and dropped them one by one into the cauldron, a five minute interval between each different orb. This would be the basis for the spell that Kagome, Miroku, Kikyō, Sesshōmaru, and Toga would weave around the Cauldron to change its nature and to hide it so that it could not be attacked again.

Yōki and spiritual powers were far stronger when working together than when working apart, after all. That was how they were  _supposed_  to be used.

Sesshōmaru-kun stood back and allowed them to take care of Jūra themselves – it was Kyōra he had an issue with, and they would allow him to kill Kyōra himself and then help them deal with the true form of the Four War Gods merged into one being now that they were suitably far away from the Cauldron.

It took but a few minutes for Kyōra to find them, and then the battle was on.

Sesshōmaru-kun was incredibly strong, but Kyōra seemed to have absorbed the strength from his downed comrades and was just as strong as Sesshōmaru-kun, so the battle lasted quite some time before Sesshōmaru-kun's acid whip finally cut his head off.

Then, as promised, a new entity appeared, and this time all three of them, Kagome, her mate, and her eldest son, were attacking, drawing out the battle long enough for Yasha to finish his mission. It took a good half an hour to defeat this new entity with all of them holding back, but once half an hour had passed they all used their full strength and soon it was dead.

Then Toga and Sesshōmaru-kun flew to where Kikyō was and began transporting the families to the island. Kikyō stayed until the last were gone, at which point Toga transported her to the island and they all headed towards the Cauldron. Once they arrived, they lined up and encircled the Cauldron of Resonance, Kagome, Kikyō, and Miroku-ni holding hands as Sesshōmaru-kun held Miroku-ni's hand and his father's hand, and Kagome held Toga's other hand. Then they began to chant.

The spell wove in and out musically throughout the room, and soon the Cauldron was glowing, shrinking, flattening out, until it was a part of the island itself. They continued the chant, yōki, hōriki, reiryoku, miko-ki, and reiki winding around and spilling from each person to pour into the island as the barrier went up – and  _changed_. No longer was it a time-barrier; instead it was a self-sustaining barrier that would only allow in those who meant no harm to any non-malevolent entity living on this island. Finally they finished, and Kagome sagged against Toga as Miroku-ni and Kikyō leaned against each other. The spell had taken a lot out of them, although their yōkai companions were still perfectly fine, being older and having more yōki than the ningen had of their respective powers.

Toga picked her up and cradled her against his chest, whilst Sesshōmaru-kun transformed and allowed Kikyō and Miroku-ni to climb onto his back. When they walked out, they were thanked profusely by the new residents of the island – several of whom had adopted the orphans living here to begin with – and they graciously gave them their welcome, before walking to the dock where they had left their boat. Sesshōmaru-kun had Kikyō and Miroku-ni get into the boat first, followed by Sango and Yasha, then he himself climbed in, Kagome and Toga being the last persons to get into the sturdy craft.

Once they got back to the mainland of Nihon, they travelled to where Kirara and Ah-Un were keeping their camp for the night safe along with the children, and once there Kagome pulled the two cooking serow off of the fire and dished it out to everyone present – she might be shaky and exhausted but she always dished out the food and refused to allow being drained to prevent her from doing so; it would take much more than this to keep her from caring for her pack. Kagome was a  _responsible_  alpha.

Then they all ate, quietly answering the children's questions and telling them the trip was successful.

Now it was time to  _rest_.

* * *

Kaguya had been a fucking  _breeze_  to defeat – only because Kagome decided to use her time-centric abilities against the false celestial maiden who wanted to absorb her in order to gain Kagome's immortality and those same abilities that had been used against her. Her time barriers could be manifested inside of any kind of barrier, after all, and she simply fast-forwarded Kaguya until she was dead, speaking calmly about how dangerous it was to underestimate one's opponents.

Of course, that had led to a conversation with Toga where Kagome had had to admit to knowing about and teaching herself how to use these abilities whenever she wasn't around him – and that a large amount of her songs were gained through using a time barrier on their home pc so she could listen to music from the future. He'd grumbled good-naturedly about her keeping secrets from him but left it at that – the past was over and done with, and it was one more way to defend herself and her allies.

* * *

Shippō was  _excited_! Papa had told him a really big secret a sennight ago! Every single year, kitsune had examinations that showed how strong and tricky they were, and they were staying at a kitsune inn so that Shippō could take part in them!

Now, Shippō knew that his papa was expecting him to prank or trick the rest of the pack for the examinations… But Shippō was gonna do one better than that! Because while his pranks always impressed Papa, he would be even  _more_  impressed if Shippō managed to get one over on  _him_. Shippō had asked Mama about that and she had agreed with him and promised she wouldn't interfere so long as his prank wasn't mean or harmful. Shippō could tell by the smile on her face that saying that was reflexive – Mama knew better than to think that Shippō would hurt or be mean to someone who wasn't hurting or being mean to someone else. It made Shippō wonder about the place Mama came from, that warning him like that would be a reflex, but he tried not to think about that. Mama was  _here_  now, and would be staying here, and that was all that mattered.

Mama had confessed to him that the place she came from had never really felt like home to her, and when she first came here was the first time she ever felt like she was at home, so even if the mean old Shikon hadn't prevented Mama from ever going back there again, she still would have stayed here. Especially, she told him, once she had met him, which had made Shippō  _oh so very happy_. His mama loved him so much!

Of course, she loved his ani-sans just as much as she loved him, but Shippō didn't mind sharing at all, because Mama's capacity for love was endless and eternal.

It was really funny watching the other kitsune trying to trick his pack though, because it just wasn't working! Miroku was so utterly devoted to Sango by now that all those kitsune looking like ningen girls just could not catch his eye, and Papa knew what was going on, and Yasha-ni was still pretty suspicious of anyone who wasn't pack, so nothing they did could trick  _him_. Shippō's family was  _awesome_ , seriously! Kirara seemed to know what was going on, too, if her encouraging him to prank his papa was anything to go by.

So Shippō sat in Mama's lap and spun his prank. First he had to get the bare bones of it going, decide what he wanted to do, and he decided that slime would work! Mama wouldn't want to touch Papa when he was like that, but Shippō wouldn't make it a  _long_  prank – less than half a candle mark. Then he decided on a colour (blue, like Papa's lightning marks, that would do), and a texture (thicker than most slime, so that Papa couldn't shake it off), and decided that yes it would stick to Papa even in his ghost form. So he spun and worked and fiddled until it was ready, before running to his Papa and hugging him around his neck, placing the prank on the side of it. Then, he stood back and set it off. Slime exploded around Papa and clung to his form, soaking into the fur and sticking quite well to his body.

_Oh_  was the look in Papa's eyes priceless!

As was the laugh that echoed into his mind when Papa shook and it didn't come off, transformed and it didn't come off, play-tackled Shippō and it didn't come off.

" _Shippō you little rascal, you pranked me! Good job, kit, I was not expecting that in the least. Now look, you have a paper!_ "

Oh! He did!

Shippō picked up the paper, and the two kitsune standing beside him gasped, "He got eight ranks at once!"

Glee! Mama and Papa were  _so_  proud of him! Today was the best day  _ever_!

* * *

Kagome smiled proudly at her youngest son and cuddled him close to her. He was such a clever boy for managing to not only even think about pranking his papa (very few kitsune would have the gall to prank  _the_  Inu no Taishō) but to actually do it and make it work. And gaining eight ranks at once! Well, they had known right from the start that Shippō was a daiyōkai kit, but this just proved his sheer competence; he was still only seven, for Kami's sake!

The rest of the pack was looking on, highly amused at this turn of events, and Kagome was pleased with all of them; she felt bad for all the kitsune trying to trick them because it was just, well… Not happening. Her pack was strong, devoted, loyal, and not easy to pull the rug out under.

Kagome, however, had other things on her mind, and was glad when they left the kitsune inn the following morning. She needed to  _think_.

The Shikon was, essentially and effectively,  _part of Kagome_. Her power was given to her by the vile thing, her body was forever changed by it, and she had abilities that were beyond unusual because of it. Given that, and the fact that she could detect the shards that had been scattered all over… Shouldn't it mean that she had some measure of control over the jewel, even though it was separated from her? If so, then everything would be easier – they had half of the jewel already, and it had been nearly six months; tension was mounting because Naraku, despite his blatant cheating and cowardice, had not done anything in the past month or so and was clearly gearing up for their final confrontation with him. He would lose, of course, but he might do all manner of things with the portion of the Shikon in his possession before that point; including shattering it again.

But what if… What  _if_.

That "what if" had been plaguing her for a sennight now; something was rattling about in her mind, some half-formed idea that she had not yet been able to grab hold of – until yesterday.

What if… She could  _call the shards to herself_?

Theoretically, it was possible, plausible, believable. It made sense, in theory, that she could do such a thing. But theory did not always correlate to fact, so Kagome had to test this, to find out if her theory had any merit, to find out if oh, so very soon she could be mating her beloved Toga because the stupid jewel was back in her body and he was fully, wholly regenerated again.

But how to go about doing such a thing…

Oh! Ideaaa! "Miroku-ni, please watch the pack for me, and be especially observant, but do not panic."

Slowly, with everybody watching her after her strange statement, she pulled the vial – packed full with glimmering pink shards – over her head, and handed it to her adopted elder brother. "I want to test something out."

The monk's violet eyes first widened, then lit up, and he gave her a slow smile. "It would be most fortuitous indeed if you were able to give me a reason that would normally make me panic, imōto-chan, but I promise I shall not do so if your test is successful."

Good! He had cottoned onto her theory with only minimal evidence (then again, she  _had_  told him about the half-formed theory and query rattling in her mind almost as soon as it began, in the hope that he could help her figure it out, but he had, with a twinkle in his eyes, merely told her that if she still couldn't figure it out in a fortnight he would tell her his own theory), and would not be all too shocked if it worked. His confidence in her was encouraging, so she shared her theory with her mate, who first stilled beneath her, then dashed off into the forest with her on his back, running for ten full minutes before he came to a stop. " _If your theory is correct, little one…_ "

"I know. It could be the bare minimum you thought it would take, instead of labouring for Kami knows how much longer for us to finally be mated."

He nuzzled her hair and laid next to her as she began to meditate, slowly sinking into herself, seeking out the part of her that could sense the shards, connecting with it, examining it, and finally… Tapping into it in a wholly different manner. Her shards were the only purified ones in the whole of Nihon, so it was ridiculously easy to find them, and this time, instead of merely  _sensing_ , she pulled. And pulled, and tugged, and called, and that was  _ **it**_!

It took but a second for her to be holding the vial that was previously in Miroku-ni's possession. "Whoa! They… They  _teleported_! Toga, this is wonderful!"

She pounced on her betrothed, happy tears soaking into his fur as he growled contently beneath her.  _It_ _ **worked**_!

* * *

They were finally here. It was finally time. The last battle in this war, and they were losing; barely. Naraku was winning; barely – but it was a lie.

A front. A cover. An illusion. In reality, Sesshōmaru-kun, Miroku-ni, Sango-chan, Yasha-kun, Kirara, Dai, Kikyō, Ginta-kun, Hakkaku-kun, and Kōga-kun were all holding back, not using their full power, lulling Naraku into a sense of false security so that his arrogance would overcome him, whilst Kagome ever so slowly worked her trick. She had to be exquisitely careful because Kohaku-kun was here and he had to be taken care of in a certain manner or he would be lost forever.

Kagome wasn't paying attention to the battle surrounding her as she  _sought, found, pulled, called_. And then it was done, she was holding most of the rest of the Shikon in her hand and she yelled out, "Now!"

Everybody launched their attacks at once, rushing the spider hanyō, and then…

It was done.

He was  _gone_.

Kagome wasted no time at all, gave them no chance to celebrate, because she wanted this stupid part of her destiny to be fulfilled as soon as possible, so she could move on to the rest of her life. "Kohaku-kun."

The young man walked over to her solemnly as she took out her vial and opened the cap, her purified shards joining with the purified half of an orb in her left hand and joining together, complete except for one last piece. Sesshōmaru stepped up now, and as soon as Kagome took the shard directly from Kohaku's neck, waved Tenseiga over the still form. Everybody in the clearing held their breath – and then Kohaku pushed himself up and Sango rushed him, enveloping him in a hug.

It didn't last long though. The now-purified shard was slid into place, and Kagome stated into the still, silent air around her, all eyes watching her, every being in the clearing wondering what her wish would be, how she would thwart the inherent tainted vileness of the Shikon, "I wish that the Shikon no Tama would return to from where it was pulled back into this world."

The well was destroyed now, which meant that Kagome was the only remaining option for that wish.

The bloody clearing filled with light, and the completed jewel in her hands slammed into her body, causing her to cry out in both shock and pain as it forced itself into her chest. Agony poured through her body, every nerve on fire, power sizzling through her, escaping from every pore as the light which had once been in the clearing was now escaping from her body, and all the while the Shikon was sinking further and further into her skin. Pain coursed through her, and it felt like she was being turned inside out, like she was being torn apart and put back together, like every atom of her being was separated and then condensed together again.

It lasted forever and ever. She was lost, gone, as eternity sang through her mind, as the jewel whispered into her ears, congratulating her viciously and venomously at first, but then thanking her and warning her. She could never die.  _It_  would never die. Everything she did now would forever be tainted by its power and " _You did not expect this, little Kagome, but We thank you any_ _how_ _because now We shall last into eternity_."

It was a  _very_  good thing that that barrier had been put into place in her mind because she had expected this, she had  _known_  what she was getting into, and she could absolutely not allow the Shikon to find that out or everything they had worked so hard for would be ruined.

Finally, the little pink orb finished merging with her body, her mind, her soul, and she collapsed, panting and whimpering, tears still falling from her eyes as pain continued to wreak its havoc throughout her body. She knew now that that had been her only chance, her only wish, that even when the Shikon sank into sleep she could never rid herself of it because it  _was_  her now. Kagome and the Shikon were one being together and she would pay the price of her wish forever – but this time around, that price meant an eternity of life, rather than eventual, painful death.

The Shikon intended for her to lose Toga, in the end, because even the strongest yōkai were not truly immortal, death would eventually claim them, but then it picked up from her mind that the mating ritual would tie their lifespans and existences together, make them one existence rather than two, and Kagome braced herself for more pain – when it finally stopped.

Apparently, the Shikon didn't really care all that much so long as it stayed alive.

Kagome pushed herself up, whimpering lightly as aftershocks of stinging power seared her skin – before she was gently picked up, strong arms hooking beneath her knees and curling around her back. She looked up only to see Toga –  _oh_  and he was real, he was  _there_ , he was solid even though Raimei was still tucked into her obi. "How long?"

Her voice was hoarse from screaming in pain, and she wanted to know how long she had been merging with the Shikon, how long he had been complete, how long the deed was done. Her beloved gripped her more tightly to him and softly stated, "An hour and a half. I dismissed the rest of the group as soon as you began screaming. I became whole as soon as you made your wish, but as we have not yet mated even I would have been purified into ash had I come within four metres of you about five minutes in. What did it do to you, koishi?"

"Higurashi Kagome and the Shikon no Tama are one and the same, now."

From the moment her betrothed had picked her up he had been walking – slowly, so as not to cause her any more pain than she was currently experiencing – but her words stopped him in his tracks as he stared at her, golden eyes wide with shock. " _What_?!"

She nodded solemnly and sadly; she had not informed him of her plan so that just in case, the Shikon could not find it out – but even she had not expecting it to merge with her soul; only with her body and mind. "The Shikon no Tama is eternal, as is Higurashi Kagome. Even when the world ceases to be, until the Kami Themselves gather together and force a cessation upon this vessel, upon this body, nothing can kill or harm it. It had intended for me to lose you eventually, but didn't seem to mind all that much when it found out that our existences would be one and the same upon mating."

Toga growled lightly, before taking a breath and exhaling. "Of course it wouldn't. The beings powering the Shikon are intelligent; you are more likely to care about the world and change the world as long as you still have some tie to the world; whilst my death would cause you pain and pleasure the Shikon in that manner, in the end it would be more detrimental to its goals and expectations. Do you wish to know why I knew that it had indeed done something to you?"

She nodded and looked up at him again, and he nuzzled her hair lightly. "You have aged. Not enough to match your maturity, but enough that in our previous world you would be considered a full adult no matter where on the planet we were. You are taller, more filled out, and your voice is more husky – it is not just hoarseness from screaming that is causing it to sound lower, now."

"Eh?! No wonder it hurt so much and felt how it felt to me; changing my body like that… But to what end?"

Toga began walking again as he stated, "You are likely to remain unchanged from now on. It is much easier for someone of your apparent physical age to command authority and have people listen to and obey them than it would be for someone of only fifteen."

That made sense. Basically, giving her more of an opportunity for it to go play through her will as her will would be obeyed more often. She couldn't really find the energy to be upset at that, however; instead she was rather pleased. "Anywhere" in the previous world meant even America, where the age of full adulthood was only reached at twenty one years old. One could not legally drink anything alcoholic before then in that country, after all. Kagome had always felt out of place in her body once she reached around the beginning of her teens, though, so she was rather happy with this development. Even if she was still mentally older than she appeared, it was not by all that much any more, and at least now she would seem more like a mature woman than someone just coming of age.

"Good. We'll both need me to seem authoritative once I am the Lady of the South. Where are we going now?"

Her lover smirked down at her and kissed her forehead. "I told Sesshōmaru not to expect us back for several days, and gave him command of the pack. We are going some place secluded so that our souls can finally be joined."

Kagome smiled softly and buried her face into Toga's kimono. It was about damn time.


End file.
